Chinese  Womanhood 


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Chinese  Womanhood 


By 

LUCINDA  PEARL  BOGGS,  Ph.  D. 


Cincinnati:  Jennings  and  Graham 
New  York:  Eaton  and  Mains 


HQ  n37 


Copyright,  1913,  by 
Jennings  and  Graham. 


TO 

dfe  dottle  <Ei|tnc«c  ^ahiea 

WHO  HAVE   CALLED   ME 
AND    TO 

t!ri|«  JIahttB  of  (America 

WHO  SENT  ME   WITH   A  MESSAGE   OF 
TO  THE   MIDDLE   KINGDOM 


268773 


Contents 


PAGE 


I.  Womanhood,         -        -        .        -  is 

II.  The  Mother,    -        -        -        -  34 

III.  The  Wife, 47 

IV.  The  Priestess,          -        .        -  64 
V.  Illustrious  Women  of  China,      -  81 

VI .  The  Education  of  Women,       -  96 

VII.  Western  Civilization  and  Chi- 
nese Women,      -       -       -  113 


Preface 

The  Lady  with  a  Flower  in  Her  Hair  is  my 
epigrammatic  way  of  thinking  of  the  citizeness 
of  the  Flowery  Kingdom,  for  all  women,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  love  to  wear  some 
bright  blossom  in  their  coiffure.  To  me  there 
is  a  secret  and  indescribable  charm  about  the 
Chinese  woman  of  to-day.  With  her  stately 
manners  and  simple,  pleasing  qualities,  she 
stands  out  almost  as  the  contemporaneous  an- 
cestress of  the  whole  modern  world,  for  in 
studying  China  we  realize  that  the  points  of 
difference  are  due  more  to  differences  of  histor- 
ical stages  than  to  radical  dissimilarity  of  race. 
The  attention  which  women  are  receiving  in 
the  New  China  calls  to  mind  this  sentence 
from  a  sympathetic  writer  on  the  position  of 
women:  **The  student  of  the  history  of  women 
is  continually  reminded  of  the  fact  that  when 

9 


A::/i;-;^./-:{..;/:^REFACE 

men  lose  their  dignity  and  eminence,  woman 
disappears  from  the  scene;  but  when  they  rise 
into  worth,  she  again  comes  upon  the  stage  in 
all  her  tenderness.''  Do  not  we  women  of  the 
West  welcome  the  coming  of  the  Chinese  women 
into  their  own? 

The  object  of  this  little  book  is  to  help  the 
women  of  the  East  and  the  women  of  the  West 
to  feel  the  common  bond  of  womanhood,  in 
the  hope  that  it  will  be  their  sweet  reasonable- 
ness which  will  join  the  peoples  of  the  Orient 
and  the  Occident  in  mutual  understanding  and 
good  fellowship.  Having  an  ethical  rather  than 
a  scientific  purpose  in  mind,  free  use  has  been 
made  of  the  selective  principle,  so  that  the 
result  is  an  impressionistic  rather  than  a  photo- 
graphic picture  of  the  women  of  China.  In 
this  sketch,  therefore,  are  to  be  found  the 
ideals  of  Old  China  as  portrayed  in  odes  and 
annals  of  ancient  days,  together  with  facts  and 
observations  collected  by  the  author  during  a 
stay  of  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  Orient. 

My  apology  for  sending  forth  this  slender 
10 


PREFACE 

volume  without  years  of  research  is  that  its 
appeal  is  to  the  heart,  which  can  learn  more 
in  one  of  its  ceaseless  throbs  than  the  trained 
mind  in  a  life-time,  if  the  theme  is  one  which 
sets  its  strings  trembling. 


11 


Chinese  Womanhood 


I 

Womanhood 

What  is  womanhood?  What  is  it  to  be  wom- 
anly? To  be  manly  is  to  be  strong — a  con- 
queror of  himself  an^  his  environment;  in  a 
word,  to  be  a  hero.  To  be  womanly  is  to  be 
tender,  sufficient  in  herself,  and  giving  of  her 
own  bounteousness  to  all  in  need — an  angel. 
Both  hero  and  angel  imply  a  certain  high  and 
intimate  relation  to  the  divine.  The  first  is 
the  heavenly  appointed  agent  of  the  gods  to 
compel,  to  avenge,  to  fulfill;  the  second  is  a 
ministering  messenger  sent  to  alleviate  the  woes 
the  gods  can  not  prevent. 

When  the  great  English  naturalist,  Darwin, 
first  published  his  theory  of  evolution,  he  made 
this  process  depend  on  the  principle  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.    This  seemed  a  cold  and 

15 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

cruel  law  when  applied  to  the  development  of 
humanity,  and  it  was  John  Fiske,  the  American 
historian  and  philosopher,  who  propounded 
another  principle,  namely:  that  the  individual 
or  species  survives  which  has  the  longest  pro- 
tected infancy.  Now,  not  only  does  the  pro- 
tection of  infancy  allow  the  individual  to  grow 
strong  before  being  thrown  on  his  own  re- 
sources, but  it  seems  to  lengthen  the  period  of 
plasticity,  that  is,  the  period  most  easily  in- 
fluenced by  environment.  Hence  the  period 
of  educability  and  progressive  development  is 
lengthened  and  the  child  is  for  a  longer  time 
susceptible,  in  a  high  degree,  to  the  accumulated 
improvements  of  the  human  race,  which  he 
acquires  through  the  process  we  call  education. 
It  is  generally  conceded  that  this  function 
of  the  nurture  of  infancy  belongs  especially  to 
woman,  and,  indeed,  this  function  of  nurture 
extends  to  the  care  of  the  sick  and  aged.  Thus 
from  mere  physical  motherhood  woman  has 
gradually  assumed  the  duties  of  educator  of 
childhood  and  youth  and  of  cherishing  nurse 

16 


WOMANHOOD 

of  the  weak.  Wherever  she  is  found,  as  teacher, 
ruler,  priestess,  or  healer,  the  characteristic  of 
ministry  is  strong.  The  worth  and  dignity  of 
ministry  the  world  never  understood  until  one 
lived  and  wrought  the  perfect  ministry  of  love 
for  the  whole  world,  and  said  of  Himself,  "The 
Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister.'' 

What  has  been  the  characterization  of  wom- 
anhood from  the  beginning  of  time  until  now? 
This  is  what  the  old,  old  ode  from  China's 
classical  Book  of  Poetry  says: 

"Sons  shall  be  born  to  him; 
They  will  be  put  to  sleep  on  couches; 
They  will  be  clothed  in  robes; 
They  will  have  scepters  to  play  with ; 
Their  cry  will  be  loud. 

They  will  be  resplendent  with  red  knee  covers, 
The  future  princes  of  the  land. 

"Daughters  shall  be  born  to  him; 

They  will  be  put  to  sleep  on  the  ground ; 

They  will  be  clothed  with  wrappers; 

They  will  have  tiles  to  play  with. 
2  17 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

It  will  be  theirs  neither  to  do  wrong  nor  to  do 

good; 
Only  about  the  spirits  and  the  food  will  they  have 

to  think, 
And  to  cause  no  sorrow  to  their  parents.'* 

Here  is*  another  bit  of  satire  from  the  same 
source,  and  also  contrasting  man  and  woman: 

"A  clever  man  builds  a  city, 
A  clever  woman  lays  one  low; 
With  all  her  qualifications,  that  clever  woman 
Is  but  an  ill-omened  bird. 
A  woman  with  a  long  tongue 
Is  a  flight  of  steps  leading  to  calamity ; 
For  disorder  does  not  come  from  heaven, 
But  is  brought  about  by  women. 
Among  those  who  can  not  be  trained  or  taught 
Are  women  and  eunuchs." 

Likewise  do  the  ancient  Hebrews  attribute 
the  introduction  of  evil  into  a  perfect  world  to 
womanhood,  as  related  in  the  marvelous  story 
of  Eden.  The  Greek  legend  tells  how  a  woman, 
Pandora,  opened  a  forbidden  box,  thereby  re- 
leasing all  the  evils  of  poverty,  hunger,  dis- 
cord, sickness,  and  depravity  to  prey  upon  a 

18 


WOMANHOOD 

hitherto  happy  and  innocent  humanity.  In 
the  following  biting  lines  the  great  Greek 
tragedian  Euripides  epitomizes  this  view  of 
woman  and  evil: 

"Terrible  is  the  force  of  the  waves  of  the  sea, 
Terrible  the  rush  of  the  river  and  the  blasts  of  hot 

fire, 
Terrible  is  poverty,  and  terrible  are  a  thousand 

other  things; 
But  none  is  such  a  terrible  evil  as  woman. 
No  painter  could  adequately  portray  her;  ^ 

No  language  can  describe  her; 
But  if  she  is  the  creation  of  any  of  the  gods. 
Let  him  know  that  he  is  a  very  great  creator 
Of  evils  and  a  foe  to  mortals." 

Tertullian,  one  of  the  greatest  teachers  and 
writers  of  the  Early  Christian  Church,  hurls 
this  terrible  anathema  at  women,  which  com- 
bines the  Hebrew  superstition  with  Greek 
logic  and  makes  out  a  sorry  case  for  half  of 
humanity : 

''Do  you  know  that  each  one  of  you  is  an 
Eve?  The  sentence  of  God  on  this  sex  of  yours 
lives  in  this  age:  the  guilt  of  necessity  must 

19 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

live  too.  You  are  the  devil's  gateway;  you 
are  the  unsealer  of  the  forbidden  tree;  you  are 
the  first  deserter  of  the  divine  law;  you  are 
the  one  who  persuaded  him  whom  the  devil 
was  not  valiant  enough  to  attack.  You  de- 
stroyed so  easily  God's  image,  man.  On  ac- 
count of  your  desert,  that  is,  death,  even  the 
Son  of  God  had  to  die." 

The  great  Moslem  sage,  Sidi  Hammu,  gives 
vent  to  his  feelings  in  the  one  sulphuric  sen- 
tence: "O  you  women,  you  seed  of  the  ole- 
ander tree,  I  should  like  to  burn  all  of  you,  if 
my  mother  were  not  one  of  you." 

That  there  are  women  in  all  nations  who 
have  won  the  admiration  of  their  world,  many 
passages  show  which  might  be  quoted.  These 
lines  from  the  Chinese  Book  of  Poetry  describe 
the  mother  of  the  Chow  dynasty: 

"She  grandly  shone  with  virtue  rare 
That  naught  could  bend.     So  did  she  share 
God's  favor,  and  How-Tseih  she  bore 
Without  a  pang,  or  labor  sore, 
Just  when  her  carrying  days  were  o'er." 

20 


WOMANHOOD 

Here  is  a  stanza  in  praise  of  the  young 
woman  of  Han: 

"The  girls  free  ramble  by  the  Han, 
But  will  not  hear  enticing  word. 
Like  the  broad  Han  are  they, 
Through  which  one  can  not  dive; 
And  like  the  Keang's  long  stream, 
Wherewith  no  raft  can  strive.'* 

The  very  poet  whom  we  quoted  above, 
Euripides,  has  written  the  tragedy  of  Alces- 
tis,  a  woman  who  offered  herself  to  die  in  her 
husband*s  stead,  and  has  made  of  it  one  of  the 
greatest  stories  of  self-sacrifice  outside  of  Chris- 
tian literature.  Likewise  there  have  been  He- 
brew heroines,  and  through  the  ideal  of  Mary, 
the  Mother  of  Christ,  Christian  peoples  have 
created  an  ideal  type  of  womanhood  whose  in- 
fluence has  been  strongly  felt  wherever  Chris- 
tianity has  gone.  Even  in  Buddhism  there  is 
the  beautiful  story  of  Kwanyin,  the  Goddess  of 
Mercy,  who  left  her  place  in  heaven  in  order 
that  she  might  live  as  a  woman  on  earth  and  so 

21 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

understand  and  help  womankind  more  sympa- 
thetically. 

But  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  certain 
distinguished  women  have  been  recognized  as 
worthy  of  admiration,  it  remains  true  that 
womanhood  has  been  branded  as  inferior  and 
has  to  bear  not  only  the  ignominy,  but  the 
burden  of  inferiority,  for  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  superiority  exacts  service  and  homage 
from  weakness.  Just  how  women  came  to  be 
regarded  in  this  manner,  it  is  hard  to  say. 
Perhaps  when  men  were  wandering  about  in 
nomadic  tribes  from  place  to  place,  women, 
burdened  with  young  children  at  the  breast, 
were  not  able  to  keep  up  with  the  procession, 
and  so  hindered  the  movements  of  the  whole 
group.  Thus  she  was  deemed  weaker,  and  so 
she  was;  not,  however,  because  her  strength  was 
less  than  the  man's,  but  because  her  burden  had 
become  greater.  In  such  a  stage  of  civilization 
weakness  was  regarded  as  an  evil,  as,  indeed, 
it  was,  when  man  could  live  only  by  his  strength 
of  muscle;  and  it  was  in  these  early  days  that 

22 


WOMANHOOD 

the  religious  and  philosophical  concepts  be- 
came fixed.  Wherever  a  quality  of  good  and 
evil  is  the  basis  of  their  religion,  the  evil  prin- 
ciple is  therefore  declared  to  be  feminine. 

In  China  the  two  principles  at  the  basis  of 
their  whole  cosmogony  and  religion  are  called 
Yang  and  Yin — light  and  darkness,  masculine 
and  feminine.  Yang  is  all  that  is  strong,  pure, 
and  helpful.  Yin  is  evil,  dangerous,  and  in- 
ferior. Yang  is  the  sun  from  which  emanates 
all  the  good  spirits  who  people  the  world. 
Yin  is  the  earth  from  which  arises  all  the  powers 
which  work  harm  to  mankind.  It  is  only 
through  the  proper  relation  of  the  two  elements 
that  the  world  and  humanity  exist.  In  Egypt 
Osiris  and  I  sis  are  names  for  the  same  prin- 
ciples, and  between  them  there  is  a  constant 
struggle  for  the  supremacy  of  the  world.  In 
the  Greek  mythology  we  find  a  modified  form 
of  the  struggle  between  good  and  evil  as  male 
and  female  principles  in  the  legend  of  Venus 
and  Adonis,  which  typify  the  decay  and  growth 
of  plant  life.    In  the  cold  countries  of  Northern 

23 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

Europe  we  have  the  struggle  of  good  and  evil 
associated  with  day  and  night,  summer  and 
winter;  but  here  the  sex  element  is  lacking,  for 
both  Balder,  the  beautiful,  and  the  wicked 
Loki  are  represented  as  masculine.  It  may  be 
a  coincidence,  but  in  the  Teutonic  races  women 
have  found  their  highest  and  freest  develop- 
ment. 

When  the  hunting  and  pastoral  tribes  set- 
tled down  to  an  agricultural  life,  women  found 
an  outlet  for  their  activities  which  made  them 
extremely  valuable  in  the  economy  of  the 
group,  and  instead  of  their  being  a  burden 
they  were  regarded  as  so  profitable  that  some 
men  were  desirous  of  several  women.  Thus  in 
some  countries  polygamy  arose,  which  is  noth- 
ing more  or  less  than  a  species  of  slavery  and 
tended  to  offset  the  advantages  which  might 
otherwise  have  bettered  the  standing  of  women. 
As  civilization  advanced,  spinning,  weaving, 
tailoring,  tanning,  and  similar  industries  were 
developed  which  could  best  be  carried  on  within 
doors,   so  that  gradually  woman  came  to  be 

24 


WOMANHOOD 

regarded  as  the  creature  of  four  walls,  and  her 
freedom  became  more  and  more  restricted. 
To-day  women  are  following  the  textile  trades 
out  of  the  home  to  the  factories,  and  thus  one 
of  the  factors  in  her  early  incarceration  has  led 
to  her  release.  But  I  would  not  say  that 
woman's  life  has  been  entirely  ruled  by  eco- 
nomic conditions.  These  ideas  arising  from  eco- 
nomic conditions,  as  said  above,  tend  to  become 
a  fixed  part  of  the  ethics  and  religion  of  a  people 
long  after  the  economic  factors  have  disap- 
peared. 

Another  reason  why  women  have  been  con- 
sidered evil  is  that  they  are  innovators.  In 
ancient  times,  when  tradition  and  precedent 
prescribed  the  exact  method  of  procedure  in 
all  the  small  and  great  circumstances  of  life, 
nothing  was  so  much  feared  as  a  departure 
from  the  old  paths.  All  of  us  are  familiar  with 
the  elaborate  Hebraic  rites  and  ceremonies 
concerning  matters  of  law,  religion,  health,  and 
morals  as  recorded  in  the  book  of  Leviticus. 
Now,  if  anything  went  wrong  with  the  result, 

25 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

it  was  rather  the  way  of  the  menfolk  to  care- 
fully scrutinize  the  process  and  find  some  flaw, 
some  deviation  from  the  prescribed  procedure, 
as  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that  in  the  given 
circumstances  the  procedure  itself  might  be 
wrong.  Women,  with  a  less  exact  knowledge, 
perhaps,  of  the  elaborate  code  and  system  of 
rites,  but  with  a  keener  eye  for  results,  were 
more  ready  to  try  new  methods,  whether 
in  religious  worship  or  everyday  occupations. 
Hence  many  new  religious  cults  have  their 
first  converts  among  women.  Hence  nearly  all 
primitive  industries  and  inventions  are  due  to 
women.  She  first  tilled  the  land  and  harvested 
and  prepared  the  grains  for  food.  In  nearly 
every  country  the  deity  of  the  harvests  is  a 
goddess.  Women  were  the  first  potters,  house 
builders,  tanners,  weavers,  and  tailors,  as  well 
as  farmers  and  cooks.  After  these  innovations 
had  proved  a  success  they  were  adopted  by  the 
tribe,  but  by  that  time  woman  was  inventing 
something  else  new,  and  so  remained  ever  un- 
forgiven. 

26 


WOMANHOOD 

Again,  woman  is  regarded  as  an  evil  because 
of  her  charm,  which  tempts  men  to  spend  more 
hours  in  pleasure  than  is  compatible  with  their 
success  in  business  or  professions.  But  it  is 
said  to  be  woman's  desire  to  please,  which  has 
brought  about  the  beautiful  in  music,  literature, 
and  art,  as  well  as  the  comforts  of  a  well-ap- 
pointed home.  A  few  parasitic  women  there 
are  who,  ministering  to  the  lower  pleasures, 
destroy  rather  than  build  up  the  elements  of 
human  nature  in  what  we  call  recreation.  We 
have  not  yet  learned  to  distinguish  clearly 
between  the  charm  that  strengthens  and  re- 
fines and  that  which  cheapens  and  sensualizes. 

What,  then,  is  the  task  of  womanhood  in 
making  itself  more  effective  in  the  upward 
struggle  towards  truth  and  goodness,  which 
alone  can  remove  the  stigma  of  evil? 

First  of  all  she  must  increase  her  strength 
of  mind  and  body  and  learn  how  to  use  this 
strength  most  skillfully  in'  going  through  the 
work  which  falls  to  womankind.  Secondly, 
she  must  have  before  her  some  desired  result 

27 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

which  is  to  be  achieved  by  the  countless  small 
tasks  which  make  up  the  days  of  most  women, 
and  she  must  study  to  be  wise  in  devising  proper 
means  for  accomplishing  her  end.  Thirdly, 
she  must  cultivate  whatever  talent  has  been 
given  her  to  elevate  humanity  through  an  ap- 
peal to  the  love  of  the  beautiful.  Few  are 
gifted  with  music  or  art  or  poetry  to  charm  an 
admiring  world,  but  every  woman  can  make  a 
flower  bloom  where  barrenness  was  before. 
Every  woman  can  speak  the  comforting  words 
of  appreciation  and  cheer  which  fall  like  music 
on  the  discouraged  and  weary.  And  always 
may  she  remember  that  she  is  a  ministering 
angel  to  carry  out  the  good  will  of  God  to  those 
who  need  her. 

What  does  womanhood  stand  for  to-day  in 
the  various  countries  of  the  globe?  It  is  gen- 
erally conceded  that  it  is  in  America  that 
woman  stands  highest.  In  this  country  all 
occupations  and  professions  are  open  to  her, 
and  she  has  the  same  opportunities  from  child- 
hood  to  womanhood   that   men   have,    though 

28 


WOMANHOOD 

with  slightly  different  adaptations.  In  religion 
she  has  an  equal  place  with  men;  in  the  eyes 
of  the,  law  she  is  coming  to  haVe  an  equal  status 
with  men  as  regards  property,  personal  and 
political  rights;  in  the  home  and  in  social  life 
she  is  supreme. 

In  the  countries  of  North  Europe  women 
have  been  gaining  privileges  and  rights  steadily 
for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  though  wher- 
ever military  ideals  reign  supreme,  woman 
does  not  have  that  recognition  for  which  she 
strives.  Even  in  Southern  Europe  women  are 
awakening  to  the  possibilities  of  a  freer,  richer 
development  through  education  and  unrestricted 
intercourse  with  each  other.  Miss  de  Selin- 
court,  who  has  spent  many  years  among  women 
of  the  East  and  the  Far  East,  writes: 

''Meanwhile  there  is  a  spirit  of  unrest 
among  women  the  world  over,  a  reaching  out 
after  a  freer,  fuller  life:  and  it  must  never  be 
forgotten  that  a  free,  full  life  for  women  is  an 
integral  part  of  the  reign  of  God  upon  earth, 
which  our  Lord  came  to  establish.     The  mes- 

29 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

sengers  of  the  cross  must  accept  and  encourage 
the  highest  aspirations  of  women,  seeking  after 
the  solution  of  apparently  contradictory  ele- 
ments, in  the  light  of  the  fundamental  teaching 
of  Christ,  that  life  comes  through  death,  self- 
realization  through  self-sacrifice." 

To-day  the  women  of  the  educated  classes 
in  Turkey  are  begging  to  be  allowed  to  lay  aside 
the  veils;  they  want  a  clubhouse  in  Constan- 
tinople where  they  can  meet  to  discuss  the 
topics  of  the  day,  in  which  they  take  almost  as 
much  interest  as  the  men.  They  are  writing 
to  plead  their  cause,  and  had  even  started  a 
paper  of  their  own  which,  however,  could  not 
outlive  for  one  year  the  dead  weight  of  public 
opinion  against  the  new  ideals  which  it  es- 
poused. In  Persia,  also,  it  is  rumored  two 
ladies  are  printing  a  paper  in  the  interest  of 
women  and  their  homes.  About  two  years  ago 
Persian  women  were  holding  a  conference  to 
discuss  problems  of  education,  for  they  realize 
that  therein  lies  their  greatest  hope. 

In  India  many  women  are  studying  for 
30 


WOMANHOOD 

government  examinations;  they  have  clubs  for 
discussing  temperance,  hygiene,  woman's  in- 
fluence, etc.  Some  talented  ladies  are  con- 
tributing leading  articles  to  popular  magazines 
and  are  editing  magazines  of  their  own.  Even 
in  caste-ridden  India  and  Moslem  countries 
women  are  beginning  to  make  their  influence 
felt  in  a  social  and  political  way  as  never  be- 
fore, while  at  the  same  time  raising  their  ideals 
of  home  life. 

In  Japan  the  woman's  movement  is  an 
assured  success,  although  it  has  not  yet  run  its 
course.  The  example  of  Japan  to  the  whole 
East  is  invaluable  in  this  respect,  and  China, 
at  least,  has  its  eyes  on  its  little  island  neighbor 
with  admiring  wonder  and  approval.  Chinese 
women  are  therefore  to  be  given  greater  liberty 
in  all  their  relations,  and  even,  it  is  said,  a 
share  in  the  political  rights  of  the  new  republic, 
to  the  extent  of  suff"rage  on  the  same  basis  as 
men.  A  Chinese  magazine  calmly  announces 
that  the  suffragists  of  Canton  have  elected 
their  representatives  to  the  provincial  assembly. 

31 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

As  the  property  and  educational  qualifications 
for  suffrage  are  high,  this  will  not  affect  a  great 
number  of  women  directly  at  present,  but  it 
will  influence  the  whole  life  of  China  indirectly 
with  tremendous  power,  for  in  the  new  begin- 
ning all  ideas  are  bound  to  be  discussed,  and 
all  will  color  the  final  result. 

Considering  all  this  unrest  the  world  over, 
it  has  seemed  worth  while  to  discover,  if  pos- 
sible, some  characteristics  of  the  women  of  the 
last-named  country,  which  has  just  declared 
itself  ready  to  enter  into  friendly  and  free  re- 
lation with  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  women 
of  China  have  stood  highest  of  all  the  women 
of  the  old  non-Christian  world,  and  with  one 
bound  seem  to  have  reached  the  highest  posi- 
tion of  any  modern  nation,  so  far  as  suffrage  is 
concerned.  We  wish  we  might  know  whether 
China  has  made  its  women  what  they  are,  or 
whether  its  women  have  made  it.  One  thinks 
of  the  saying,  "A  nation  stands  as  high  as  its 
women,''  and  one  wonders  if  China  is  to  be 
the   greatest   country   of   modern   times,    as   it 

32 


WOMANHOOD 

seems  to  have  been  of  ancient  times.  China's 
disinclination  to  miHtarism  augurs  well  for  its 
future,  if  only  warlike  nations  will  give  it  an 
opportunity  to  submit  all  its  differences  to 
arbitration. 

Already  a  few  Chinese  women  are  studying 
and  teaching.  They  are  nurses,  physicians, 
writers,  and  editors;  but  these  few  are  a  host 
in  enthusiasm,  energy,  and  influence.  The 
political  changes  occurring  in  China  just  now 
are  said  to  be  the  most  interesting  phenomena 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  but  still  more  inter- 
esting are  the  social  and  domestic  changes 
which,  moving  more  slowly  perhaps,  are  never- 
theless bound  to  come.  In  these  changes 
women  are  by  nature  foreordained  to  take  the 
most  important  place. 


33 


II 

The  Mother 

'*GoD  could  not  be  everywhere,  and  so  He 
made  mothers."  This  bit  of  wisdom  is  from 
the  old  Hebraic  Talmud,  and  it  has  the  same 
ring  as  the  words  of  our  truest  and  greatest 
American,  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  said,  ''All 
that  I  am  or  hope  to  be  I  owe  to  my  mother/* 
A  Hebrew  writer  of  New  Testament  times  says, 
when  treating  of  the  original  transgression  of 
man  (which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  always  laid 
at  the  door  of  woman),  "Notwithstanding,  she 
shall  be  saved  in  child-bearing,  if  they  continue 
in  faith  and  charity  and  holiness  with  sobriety." 
A  recent  German  philosopher  summarizes 
the  modern  view  of  motherhood  in  this  terse 
paragraph:  ''Men  invent  machines,  women 
bring  men  into  the  world;  men  shape  weapons, 

34 


THE  MOTHER 

while  in  the  arms  of  women  soldiers  are  reared. 
Men  rule,  but  women  render  the  highest  service 
to  the  nation,  since  only  peoples  with  efficient 
mothers  push  their  way.  Mothers  are  the 
conquering  element.  When  motherhood  be- 
comes weak  in  a  nation,  culture  is  no  longer 
useful.  The  sinking  down  of  mothers  is  the 
fall  of  the  people,  the  descent  into  senility." 

Chinese  literature  abounds  in  tributes  of 
honor  to  the  mother ,%nd  I  quote  the  following 
from  a  Chinese  book  entitled  the  ''Female 
Instructor,"  written  by  a  famous  essayist  of 
the  last  century: 

''During  infancy  a  child  ardently  loves  its 
mother,  who  knows  all  its  traits  of  goodness: 
while  the  father  perhaps  can  not  know  about 
it,  there  is  nothing  which  the  mother  does  not 
see.  Wherefore  the  mother  teaches  more  ef- 
fectually." \ 

Here  is  an  anecdote  selected  from  the 
"Records  of  Famous  Women,"  written  during 
the  first  century  B.  C.  by  Liu  Hsiang: 

"The  famous  Tai  Jen,  wife  of  Wang  Chi, 
35 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

was  the  mother  of  the  famous  King  Wen,  re- 
puted founder  of  the  great  Chow  dynasty. 
She  was  the  second  daughter  of  Chih-jen.  En- 
dowed with  many  excellent  qualities,  she  was 
most  exemplary  in  her  conduct,  and  gained 
the  admiration  of  all  by  her  conspicuous  virtues. 
So  fearful  was  she  of  the  dire  effects  of  maternal 
impressions  on  her  future  offspring  that  she 
strove  in  every  way  to  conduct  herself  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  obviate  the  danger  of  the  foetus 
in  her  womb  acquiring  an  undesirable  charac- 
ter. She  would  not  listen  to  disagreeable 
sounds,  nor  would  she  look  at  anything  un- 
sightly; neither  would  she  utter  a  word  that 
was  improper.  Her  son  grew  up  to  be  intelli- 
gent and  wise.  Tai  Jen  taught  him  herself, 
and  she  was  delighted  to  find  that  when  she 
told  him  one  thing  he  was  able  to  deduce  from 
it  all  possible  relations.  Thus  it  was  said  of 
her  that  she  began  to  teach  her  child  from  the 
womb.  This  son  grew  up  to  be  the  greatest 
chieftain  and  the  most  learned  scholar  in  the 
troublous  time  of  Chou-sin,  the  great  tyrant, 

36 


THE  MOTHER 

who  was  ultimately  disposed  of  by  the  son  of 
King  Wen." 

There  are  also  many  folk-tales  showing  the 
great  esteem  in  which  mothers  are  held  by  their 
children,  especially  their  sons.  There  is  room 
only  for  one,  in  a  very  condensed  form,  taken 
from  Norman  Pitman's  *' Chinese  Fairy  Sto- 
ries:'* '*Once  a  poor  widow  made  a  vow  in  the 
presence  of  a  Buddhist  priest  that  she  would 
abstain  forever  from  eating  meat.  Her  loving 
son,  observing  how  poorly  his  mother  looked, 
decided  that  it  was  from  lack  of  meat,  and  as 
it  was  the  festive  New  Year  season,  he  deter- 
mined to  make  a  dish  in  which  chicken  should 
be  cooked,  but  disguised  by  savories  and  vege- 
tables in  such  a  way  that  his  mother  would  not 
recognize  what  she  was  eating,  and  therefore 
would  not  be  guilty  of  breaking  her  vow.  His 
plan  succeeded,  but  in  the  night,  after  having 
partaken  of  the  delicious  stew,  the  mother  was 
seized  by  evil  spirits  and  taken  away  to  Hades. 
Overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  guilt  and  also  re- 
morse for  what  his  mother  must  be  suffering 

37 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

on  account  of  his  deceitfulness,  he  found  a 
way  to  go  down  to  Hades  through  many  perils 
in  order  to  take  food  to  his  mother,  whom  the 
priest  told  him  was  starving.  Three  times  the 
food  was  snatched  away  from  him  by  howling 
demons,  but  another  effort  was  successful,  and 
the  gods,  in  order  to  reward  such  filial  devo- 
tion, allowed  the  mother  to  return  to  the  upper 
world  with  her  son/' 

Of  the  famous  twenty-four  stories  of  filial 
devotion  upon  which  every  Chinese  child  is 
nourished,  by  far  the  major  part  deal  with  the 
relation  of  children  to  their  mothers,  and  of 
the  remainder  most  of  them  deal  with  the  rela- 
tion to  both  parents.  The  following  is  an 
especial  favorite,  and  I  give  it  as  translated 
by  S.  W.  Williams: 

''In  the  days  of  the  Han  dynasty  lived 
Koh  Kii,  who  was  very  poor.  He  had  one 
child,  who  was  three  years  old:  and  such  was 
his  poverty  that  his  mother  usually  divided 
her  portion  of  food  with  this  little  one.  Koh 
says  to  his  wife:   'We  are  so  poor   that  our 

3S 


THE  MOTHER 

mother  can  not  be  supported,  for  the  child 
divides  with  her  the  portion  of  food  that  be- 
longs to  her.  Why  not  bury  the  child?  An- 
other child  may  be  born  to  us,  but  a  mother 
once  gone  will  never,  never  return.*  His  wife 
did  not  venture  to  object  to  his  prooosal, 
and  Koh  immediately  dug  a  hole  three  cubits 
deep,  when  suddenly  he  lighted  upon  a  pot  of 
gold,  and  upon  the  metal  read  this  inscription, 
'Heaven  bestows  this  treasure  upon  Koh  Kii, 
the  dutiful  son  ;  the  magistrate  may  not 
seize  it,  nor  shall  the  neighbors  take  it  from 
him/" 

Rarely  do  the  great  sages  Confucius  and 
Mencius  speak  of  one  parent  alone,  and  it  is 
possible  that  great  mothers  and  fathers  must 
exist  together.  Confucius  says,  **If  in  serving 
his  parents  he  can  exert  his  utmost  strength,'* 
"Let  there  be  careful  attention  to  perform  the 
funeral  rites  to  parents.**  His  disciple,  Men- 
cius, writes,  "Children  carried  in  arms  know 
to  love  their  parents,'*  "Filial  affection  for 
parents  is  the  working  of  benevolence.*' 

39 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

Likewise  in  the  Book  of  Poetry  both  seem 
to  be  equally  honored: 

"On  their  fathers  all  depend, 
In  their  mothers  have  a  friend." 

**0  vast  and  distant  Heaven,  whom  we 
Father  and  mother  call,  on  Thee 
I  cry." 

''Father,  from  whose  loins  I  sprung, 
Mother,  on  whose  breasts  I  hung, 
Tender  were  ye,  and  ye  fed, 
Now  upheld,  now  gently  led. 
Eyes  untiring  watched  my  way; 
Often  in  your  arms  I  lay. 
How  could  I  repay  your  love. 
Vast  as  arched  heaven  above?" 

\  Thus  we  see  that  as  a  mother,  especially  of 
sons,  woman  is  greatly  honored  in  China.  In- 
deed, from  my  study  of  Chinese  life  and  customs 
it  would  almost  seem  that  a  woman  is  a  crea- 
ture of  a  higher  order  when  she ,  becomes  a 
mother  of  men^\  One  of  the  most  impressive 
spectacles  I  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  was 

40 


X 


THE  MOTHER 

a  great  retinue  of  officials  and  soldiers  escort- 
ing an  old  lady  to  the  train  in  the  station  at 
Foochow.  It  is  noticeable,  however,  that  in 
the  five  relations  nothing  is  said  of  the  relation 
of  the  mother  to  the  son,  but  only  of  the  father 
and  son.  These  five  relations  are  as  much  or 
more  to  the  Chinese  than  the  Ten  Command- 
ments to  the  Hebrews,  and  as  they  must  be 
constantly  referred  to,  I  will  briefly  enumerate 
them  in  this  place,  as  the  basis  of  them  all  is 
the  relation  of  parent  to  child.  They  are: 
The  relation  of  sovereign  to  subject,  of  father 
to  son,  of  husband  to  wife,  of  elder  brother  to 
younger  brother,  of  friend  to  friend.  In  regard 
to  the  relations  of  the  mother,  perhaps  it  is  as 
Dr.  Wu  Ting  Fang  would  have  us  believe,  in 
speaking  of  the  second  relation,  ''Honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother  was,  and  is,  as  much  of 
a  divine  command  with  the  Chinese  as  with 
the  Hebrews.'*  That  is  to  say,  the  mother  is 
included  in  the  term  father. 

Like  all  peoples,  the  Chinese  are  prone  to 
describe  the  mothers  of  their  heroes  and  sages 

41 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

as  marvels  of  virtue  and  piety,  who  have 
thereby  won  divine  parentage  for  their  sons. 
Such  is  the  legend  of  the  mother  of  the  first 
great  minister  of  agriculture,  who  taught  the 
people  the  principles  of  husbandry,  as  related 
in  one  of  the  ancient  odes: 

*"T  is  to  the  famed  Keang  Yuen  we  trace 
The  earliest  of  our  favored  race ; 
And  how  this  happened,  let  my  verse 
The  ancient  story  now  rehearse. 
With  offering  pure  and  sacrifice, 
And  look  directed  to  the  skies, 
She  prayed  that  Heaven  would  take  away 
The  deep  reproach  that  on  her  lay 
Of  childless  womb ;  and  she  trod     , 
Upon  a  toe-print  made  by  God. 
Straight  as  she  rested  she  was  moved, 
And,  pregnant  now,  retirement  loved. 
A  son,  How-tseih,  ere  long  appeared. 
Whom  with  a  mother's  care  she  reared." 

The  mother  of  Confucius,  we  are  told,  was 
a  woman  of  remarkable  nobility  and  strength 
of  character.  Left  a  widow  at  an  early  age, 
the   training    of    China's    greatest    philosopher 

42 


THE  MOTHER 

devolved  upon  her,  and  she  furnishes  another 
instance  of  the  effect  upon  the  child  of  a  mother's 
wise  and  careful  guidance.  The  ancient  legends 
say  that  many  portents  foretold  the  future 
greatness  of  the  babe  at  his  birth.  ^*  Celestial 
strains  were  heard,  two  dragons  were  seen  in 
the  air,  and  the  spirits  of  some  of  the  glorified 
heroes  of  antiquity  reassumed  their  mortal 
shapes  and  appeared  to  do  homage  to  the  new- 
born babe."  Like  Samuel  in  the  Bible,  he  is 
said  to  have  come  in  answer  to  the  pious  and 
unselfish  prayer  of  his  mother,  and  at  an  early 
age  devoted  himself  to  the  ritualistic  services 
which  make  up  so  large  a  part  of  Chinese  wor- 
ship. 

Similarly  the  mother  of  China's  second  sage, 
Mencius,  was  left  alone  and  was  obliged  to 
look  after  the  rearing  of  her  talented  child 
alone.  Several  stories  are  told  of  her  wisdom 
and  devotion  in  this  task,  and  are  found  in 
many  of  the  school  readers  of  to-day.  At  first 
her  home  was  near  the  market,  and  the  little 
Mencius  delighted  in  seeing  the  pigs  and  sheep 

43 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

slaughtered,  and  was  constantly  imitating  what 
he  saw  of  this  nature.  Fearing  that  the  heart 
of  her  dear  child  might  become  hardened  by 
such  contact,  she  removed  to  another  house, 
which  was  near  a  cemetery.  Here  he  became 
entirely  absorbed  in  imitating  the  solemn  cere- 
monies which  he  saw  the  priests  performing  and 
the  scenes  which  the  weeping  relative  daily 
carried  out  before  his  eyes.  His  mother  again 
became  uneasy,  for  she  thought  she  perceived 
that  he  was  beginning  to  take  lightly  those 
duties  requiring  the  profoundest  respect  and 
attention.  She  therefore  took  a  third  house 
near  a  college,  and  was  finally  gratified  by  see- 
ing her  son  following  the  example  of  the  great 
scholars  who  thronged  its  halls.  Another  story 
relates  how  she  took  her  shears  and  began 
cutting  in  two  a  fine  web  of  cloth  in  her  loom 
in  order  to  impress  on  her  son's  mind  that  by 
neglecting  his  studies  he  was  thus  destroying 
the  powers  of  his  mind.  History  says  that  he 
took  the  rebuke  to  heart,  and  certainly  his 
own  works  prove  it. 

44 


THE  MOTHER 

These  are  the  stories  of  Chinese  mothers. 
These  are  the  ideals  of  Chinese  motherhood  of 
ancient  times  which  are  quoted  all  over  China 
to-day.  They  are  portrayed  as  wise,  loving, 
tender  women  who  are  unselfish  to  the  very 
core  and  who  are  capable  of  commanding  the 
love  and  respect  of  their  children.  It  is  upon 
them  that  the  nurture  and  early  training  of 
childhood  depends,  and  upon  whom,  therefore, 
the  welfare  of  the  nation  rests.  Without  doubt 
China  would  approve  of  these  sentiments  from 
the  pen  of  the  brilliant  Madame  Key,  of  Sweden, 
for  motherhood  doth  make  sisters  of  us  all. 
''According  to  my  way  of  thinking,  and  that 
of  many  others,  not  woman,  but  mother,  is  the 
most  precious  possession  of  the  human  nation, 
so  precious  that  society  advances  its  own 
highest  well-being  when  it  protects  the  func- 
tions of  the  mother.  These  functions  are  not 
limited  to  birth  nor  to  the  nourishment  of  the 
young  child,  but  they  go  on  during  the  whole 
time  of  its  training/'^ 
^'Indeed,   China,   in   speaking  of  new  ideals 

45 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

through  the  young  men  and  women  of  China, 
does  assert  that  **  woman  has  a  pecuHar  mis- 
sion, and  in  the  determination  of  her  qualifica- 
tions as  mother,  of  the  present  and  future 
generations,  lies  the  future  fate  of  the  nation.\ 


46 


Ill 

The  Wife 

While  the  position  of  the  mother  sterns  un- 
equivocal the  world  over,  the  position  of  the 
wife  varies  all  the  way  from  slavery  to  queen- 
ship.  A  woman  may  be  sold  or  she  may  go 
to  her  husband  with  a  dowry;  she  may  be 
one  wife  or  one  of  many;  she  may  have  the 
right  to  hold  property  or  she  may  not;  divorce 
may  be  easily  obtained  on  the  slightest  pre- 
text or  it  may  be  altogether  impossible,  es- 
pecially on  the  part  of  the  wife.  The  dishon- 
ored wife  is  the  most  pitiable  sight  in  the  world, 
for  it  involves  the  degradation  of  an  innocent 
individual  with  no  means  of  redress  which 
does  not  make  her  shame  a  matter  for  public 
comment.  A  beloved  spouse  enjoying  the  com- 
plete confidence  of  her  husband  has  little  left 
for  which  to  wish. 

47 


I 


V 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

No  wonder  that  the  women  of  the  Orient 
envy  the  women  of  Christian  lands.  A  Chinese 
woman  relates  a  dream  of  being  in  heaven 
where  she  and  her  husband  were  walking  in  a 
garden  together.  In  Moslem  countries  one  of 
the  most  coveted  privileges  is  going  about  in 
public  with  one's  husband,  as  is  done  in  coun- 
tries of  the  West.  A  Japanese  lady  said  to  me, 
"Christianity  has  two  things  to  teach  the 
Japanese:  truth  telling  and  a  purer  relation 
between  the  sexes."  President  Harada,  of 
Doshisha  College,  writes  thus  of  the  homes  of 
the  Western  missionaries  in  Japan,  ''The  in- 
carnation of  a  hitherto  unknown  ideal  and 
convincing  evidence  of  the  truth  of  their  re- 
ligion.'' 

In  China  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife 
is  considered  to  rank  third  in  importance  of 
the  five  ethical  relations.  Indeed,  Mencius 
says  this  in  regard  to  marriage,  '/That  male 
and  female  should  dwell  together  is  the  greatest 
of  human  relations."  This  is  similar  to  the 
Hebraic  command  in  Genesis,  "Therefore  shall 

48 


THE  WIFE 

a  man  leave  his  father  and  his  mother  and 
shall  cleave  unto  his  wife:  and  they  twain 
shall  be  one  flesh." 

Although  Confucius  himself  had  a  Socratic 
conjugal  experience  and  divorced  his  wife,  he 
seems  to  have  had  the  highest  ideals  of  mar- 
riage despite  that  fact.  In  explaining  his  views 
on  this  subject  he  says:  ^'Marriage  is  the 
natural  condition  of  man,  and  the  state  which 
best  renders  him  capable  of  fulfilling  his  des- 
tiny in  the  world.  It  is  a  state  which  dignifies 
those  who  enter  it,  but  it  requires  to  be  seri- 
ously considered,  in  order  that  all  the  duties 
pertaining  to  it  may  be  scrupulously  observed. 
These  duties  are  two-fold,  viz.,  those  which 
are  common  to  the  two  sexes,  and  those  which 
more  especially  belong  to  either  of  them. 

"The  husband,  as  master,  has  to  command, 
the  wife  has  to  submit  herself  and  obey;  but 
both  husband  and  wife  are  required,  equally, 
to  act  in  such  a  manner  as  may  best  imitate, 
and  accord  with,  the  relations  which  exist  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth,  by  which,  and  through 
4  49 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

which,  all  things  are  created,  sustained,  and 
preserved.  The  basis  of  this  common  action 
should  be  reciprocal  tenderness,  mutual  con- 
fidence, straightforwardness,  and  a  scrupulous 
regard  for  each  other's  feelings.  The  husband 
ever  leading  and  directing,  the  wife  ever  follow- 
ing and  yielding;  whilst  every  act  is  kept  within 
the  limits  prescribed  by  justice,  modesty,  and 
honor." 
\^^  Thus  we  see  that  marriage  in  the  olden 
^\  times  was  held  sacred,  and  despite  the  fact  that 
the  bride  and  groom  had  never  a  word  to  say 
in  respect  to  the  choice  of  a  life-companion, 
yet  there  seem  to  have  been  many  happy 
unions.  The  ancient  odes  often  praise  the 
industrious,  unselfish,  and  devoted  wife  who 
diligently  orders  the  household,  performs  scru- 
pulously her  part  in  the  ancestral  sacrifices,  or 
shows  no  jealousy  of  the  concubines  which  the 
husband  may  have  seen  fit  to  bring  home. 
Here  is  a  stanza  from  a  dainty  little  poem  cele- 
brating the  young  bride: 


50 


THE  WIFE 

"Graceful  and  young  the  peach  tree  stands; 
How  rich  its  flowers,  all  gleaming  bright! 
This  bride  to  her  new  home  repairs; 
Chamber  and  house  she  '11  order  right." 

This  is  an  ode  which  is  probably  the  lament 
of  a  wife  whose  husband  is  gone  on  official  busi- 
ness, and  shows  a  heart-hunger  as  strong  as 
ever  an  Aryan  wife  felt  for  an  absent  lord: 

"Away  the  startled  pheasant  flies, 
With  lazy  movement  of  his  wings; 
Borne  was  my  heart's  love  from  my  eyes — 
What  pain  the  separation  brings ! 

"The  pheasant,  though  no  more  in  view, 
His  cry  below,  above,  forth  sends. 
Alas!  my  princely  lord,  't  is  you — 
Your  absence,  that  my  bosom  rends. 

"At  sun  and  moon  I  sit  and  gaze. 

In  converse  with  my  troubled  heart. 
Far,  far  from  me  my  husband  stays! 
When  will  he  come  to  heal  its  smart? 

"Ye  princely  men,  who  with  him  mate. 
Say,  mark  ye  not  his  virtuous  way? 
His  rule  is  covet  naught,  naught  hate; 
How  can  his  steps  from  goodness  stray?" 
51 


^ 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

An  agricultural  ode  celebrating  the  various 
processes  in  husbandry  contains  this  stanza, 
which  certainly  indicates  domestic  felicity  and 
greater  freedom  of  manners  than  we  are  ac- 
customed to  in  modern  China,  where  husbands 
and  wives  are  not  supposed  to  be  seen  in  public 
together: 

"Hark,  how  the  merry  feast  goes  round, 
The  husbands'  hearts  with  love  abound ; 
Their  wives  close  to  their  sides  are  found." 

Owing  to  the  peculiar  organization  of  society 
and  the  family  in  China,  there  may  be  said  to 
be  three  kinds  of  wives:  The  head  wife,  who  is 
the  first  or  legal  wife  of  the  head  of  the  house, 
and  upon  whom  devolves  the  duty  of  ordering 
and  ruling  the  whole  household  of  women  and 
children;  the  secondary  wives,  or  concubines, 
who  are  entirely  subject  to  the  first  wife;  the 
wives  of  the  younger  members  of  the  family, 
be  they  sons  or  brothers  of  the  head  of  the 
house,  who  are  also  subject  to  the  first  wife 
until  they  have  borne  sons,  when  they  acquire 

52 


THE  WIFE 

a  certain  dignity  and  partial  independence  in 
the  well-ordered  household. 

This  extract,  taken  from  the  introduction 
to  the  "Female  Instructor,"  referred  to  above, 
is  evidently  describing  the  head  wife:  "Good 
government  of  the  empire  depends  upon  morals ; 
correctness  of  morals  depends  upon  the  right 
ordering  of  the  family;  and  right  ordering  of 
the  family  depends  upon  the  wife.  If  the  cur- 
tain which  divides  the  men  from  the  women 
is  too  thin  to  keep  them  apart,  misfortune  will 
come  to  the  family  and  to  the  State.  Purifica- 
tion of  morals,  from  the  time  of  creation  until 
now,  has  always  come  from  women." 

That  the  headwife  has  no  easy  task  is  at 
once  apparent  when  we  remember  that  each 
son  as  he  marries  still  remains  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  with  his  wife  and  offspring.  Then 
there  may  be  younger  brothers  and  their  fam- 
ilies, or  even  more  distant  relatives.  All  this 
great  household  must  be  provided  for  physic- 
ally and  kept  in  bounds  of  decency  morally. 
Added   to   this  there   may   be   concubines,   al- 

53 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

though  it  is  not  considered  exactly  courteous 
to  a  first  wife  to  take  others  if  she  has  borne 
her  husband  sons.  If  she  has  not,  it  is  con- 
sidered a  man's  duty  to  do  so,  provided  he  has 
not  succeeded  in  finding  a  male  relative  to 
adopt  as  his  son,  for,  according  to  the  ancient 
sages,  of  all  crimes,  not  to  have  born  a  son  is 
the  greatest  of  which  a  man  can  be  guilty. 

Just  what  is  the  real  status  of  the  different 
women  cohabiting  with  one  man  as  a  husband, 
Dr.  Wu  Ting  Fang,  the  celebrated  Chinese  jurist, 
has  set  forth:  "A  husband  is  bound  to  treat 
his  wife  with  great  consideration  and  courtesy, 
and  to  cherish  and  provide  for  her,  while  the 
wife  is  required  to  love  and  obey  her  spouse. 
It  is  incorrect  to  say  that  the  Chinese  are 
polygamous,  since  the  marriage  of  more  than 
one  wife  is  treated  as  an  offense  in  statute  law, 
and  is  punishable  by  heavy  penalties,  and  the 
second  marriage  is  declared  null  and  void. 

^'As  a  concession  to  human  weakness,  how- 
ever, and  especially  for  the  humane  purpose  of 
providing  for  the  unfortunate  issue  of  unmar- 

54 


THE  WIFE 

ried  women  and  securing  the  continuation  of 
the  family  line  on  the  male  side,  the  law,  by  a 
fiction,  recognizes  the  status  of  children  born 
in  concubinage,  and  admits  them  to  become 
members  of  the  families,  as  if  they  were  born 
in  wedlock.  This  legal  indulgence  has,  in  the 
course  of  time,  led  to  much  abuse,  and  has 
given  rise  to  the  impression  that  a  man  can 
have  as  many  wives  as  he  desires.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  so-called  secondary  wife  is  not  rec- 
ognized by  law,  and  has  no  legal  status  in  a 
Chinese  family.'' 

This  is  undoubtedly  true,  and  yet  the  ques- 
tion of  concubinage  is  one  of  the  mo'ist  vexing 
which  the  Christian  missionary  meets.  A  man 
is  likely  to  become  very  fond  of  his  concubines, 
and  is  loath  to  give  them  up  for  sentimental 
reasons.  Sometimes  the  wife  and  the  con- 
cubines are  very  fond  of  each  other  also,  and 
more  than  one  story  is  told  of  their  living  to- 
gether like  sisters.  Mrs.  Conger  has  related  a 
touching  incident  of  a  concubine  in  a  high 
official  family  in  Peking  who,  feeling  sorry  for 

55 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

one  of  her  sister  concubines  who  had  no  sons, 
gave  her  one  of  her  own,  since  she  was  blessed 
with  several. 

But  this  is  too  good  to  be  universally  true, 
and  so  the  missionary  is  inexorable  and  refuses 
to  receive  any  man  into  the  Church  who  retains 
his  concubines,  or  any  concubine  who  can  not 
leave  her  lord.  The  only  one  of  the  family  who 
can  be  received  is,  of  course,  the  first  wife,  for 
it  is  generally  conceded  that  she  is  no  willing 
party  to  the  reprehensible  arrangement.  Many 
stories  have  I  heard  of  the  grief  of  the  first  wife 
on  the  introduction  of  strange  women  into  the 
home,  for  they  often  steal  away  the  affection 
of  the  husband  by  their  youthful  beauty  and 
charming  accomplishments.  The  concubine  may 
have  no  legal  standing,  but  she  manages  to 
secure  another  sort  of  foothold,  especially  if 
she  is  one  of  the  girls  bought  as  young  slaves 
and  trained  and  educated  to  bring  a  fancy 
price.  But  her  lot  is  not  a  happy  one  at  best, 
and  at  the  worst  the  less  said  about  it  the 
better.      Only   in   the   bearing  of   sons   is  she 

56 


THE  WIFE 

honored,  but  even  here  her  glory  is  shorn,  for 
her  children  are  all  legally  the  children  of  the 
headwife. 

The  argument  is  sometimes  made  that  the 
arrangement  of  the  secondary  wives  does  away 
with  the  prostitute,  but  a  study  of  conditions 
in  China  will  show  that  this  is  not  the  case; 
in  fact,  one  is  inclined  to  believe  that  it  is  much 
worse  than  in  those  countries  where  actual 
monogamy  prevails.  The  New  China  is  raising 
a  protest  against  the  sale  of  female  children 
for  immoral  purposes,  or,  indeed,  for  any  pur- 
pose, as  slavery  in  itself  is  wrong  and  has  a 
deteriorating  influence  on  all  concerned.  Be- 
sides, if  the  slave  is  not  sold  into  public  pros- 
titution, she  is  likely  to  be  a  domestic  one  with 
no  consideration  for  her  feeling  whatever^ 

Then  there  is  the  child  or  girl  wife  who, 
betrothed  in  infancy,  is  sent  for  by  her  future 
mother-in-law  whenever  it  suits  her  conven- 
ience. In  well-to-do  families  the  marriage  does 
not  take  place  until  both  bride  and  groom  are 
practically  grown,  and  if  the  mother-in-law  is 

57 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

at  all  wise  and  amiable,  and  the  girl  docile  and 
clever,  the  arrangement  need  not  be  unhappy. 
If  there  is  any  difficulty,  the  husband  is  not 
supposed  to  interfere  in  his  wife's  behalf,  as 
it  will  bring  ridicule  upon  himself  and  more 
wrath  upon  his  wife. 

In  the  families  of  the  poor  the  little  girl  is 
usually  sent  for  as  soon  as  the  mother-in-law 
thinks  that  she  will  be  of  help,  and  often  the 
child-wife  fares  little  better  than  the  slave. 
The  actual  marriage  may  not  take  place  for 
some  years  after  the  child  is  brought  into  the 
family,  and  during  that  period  she  may  learn 
^^to  dislike  her  future  husband  as  well  as  learn 
to  love  him.  Altogether,  the  practice  of  child- 
betrothal  and  marriage  is  beginning  to  be 
looked  upon  unfavorably,  and  in  questions  of 
matrimony  both  the  young  girl  and  man  are 
determined  to  have  something  to  say,  and 
sometimes  the  choice  of  a  companion  is  made 
by  the  young  people  before  the  parents  are 
aware  of  what  is  going  on. 

,  y       One  of  the  greatest  arguments  being  brought 

^  58 


THE  WIFE 

forward  now  for  the  education  of  Chinese  /K 
women  is  that  at  present  there  is  such  a  dis- 
crepancy between  men  and  women  in  regard 
to  culture  and  education  that  they  can  not 
hope  to  mate  happily.  One  writer  predicts 
one  of  two  dire  results  of  further  neglect  in 
this  matter,  either  the  educated  young  men  will 
find  wives  outside  of  their  own  race,  or  they 
will  refuse  to  marry  at  all  and  thus  fail  to  per- 
petuate the  best  type  of  citizens.  Let  us  hope 
a  happy  solution  of  China*s  matrimonial  dif- 
ficulties may  be  found. 

Considering  the  great  difference  in  the  cus- 
toms of  the  East  and  the  West  in  family  af- 
fairs, it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  quote  these 
time-honored  instructions  on  the  behavior  of 
wives  towards  their  parents-in-law: 

"Wives  must  serve  their  husband's  father 
and  mother  as  their  own.  At  the  first  cock 
crowing  they  must  wash  their  hands,  rinse 
their  mouths,  comb  their  hair,  bind  it  together 
with  a  net,  fasten  it  with  a  bodkin,  forming  it 
into   a   tuft;   put   on   their   frock   and   girdles, 

59 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

fasten  on  their  bags  of  perfumery;  put  on  and 
tie  up  their  shoes.  Then  go  to  the  chamber  of 
their  father-  and  mother-in-law  and,  having 
entered,  in  a  low  and  placid  tone  they  must 
inquire  whether  their  dress  is  too  warm  or  too 
cold;  if  the  parents  have  pain  or  itching,  them- 
selves must  respectfully  rub  or  press  the  part 
affected;  and  if  they  enter  or  leave  the  room 
themselves,  either  going  before  or  following, 
must  respectfully  support  them.  In  bringing 
the  apparatus  for  washing,  the  younger  must 
present  the  bowl,  the  elder  the  water,  begging 
them  to  pour  it  and  wash;  and  after  they  have 
washed,  present  them  the  towel.  In  asking 
and  respectfully  presenting  what  they  wish  to 
eat,  they  must  cheer  them  by  their  mild  man- 
ner, and  must  wait  until  their  father-  and 
mother-in-law  have  eaten  and  then  retire.'* 

As  everywhere  in   ancient  civilization   and 

to-day  in  the  Orient,  the  lot  of  the  widow  is 

likely  to  be  an  unhappy  one.     '^Custom,'*  says 

Confucius,    "does   not   sanction   a   widow's   re- 

\.     marriage.     On   the  contrary,   it  requires   that 

60 


THE  WIFE 

she  should  remain  in  strict  seclusion  within  the 
precincts  of  her  own  home  for  the  remainder 
of  her  days/*  Fortunately  this  rigorous  rule 
is  not  enjoined  to-day,  and  many  widows  are 
honored  by  being  made  the  head  of  the  house 
if  they  show  great  ability  in  governing  the 
affairs  of  the  family.  Widows  are  sometimes 
honored  by  having  stone  arches  erected  to  them 
by  the  order  of  the  emperor.  Among  the 
Christians,  widows  are  often  employed  as  phil- 
anthropic and  religious  workers,  and  have  the 
respect  of  all  the  community  for  their  good 
works. 

But,  alas,  the  widow  of  the  poor  has  many 
hardships!  Her  husband*s  relatives  usually  sell 
her  as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  writer  person- 
ally knows  women  who  have  preferred  death  to 
remarriage  under  the  imposed  conditions.  One 
very  handsome  young  widow  overheard  the 
bargain  being  made  to  sell  her  to  an  official  as 
a  secondary  wife.  She  vowed  that  she  would 
kill  herself  by  eating  raw  opium  rather  than 
submit.      Being   resourceful,    she   was   able   to 

61 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

escape  from  the  house  with  her  infant  daughter, 
and  took  refuge  with  the  Christian  missionaries, 
who  placed  her  in  a  school  for  women,  and  for 
twenty  years  or  more  she  has  been  a  faithful 
and  efficient  Bible  teacher  and  preacher,  going 
about  the  streets  on  her  mission  of  help  and 
cheer. 

Another  young  widow,  also  educated  in  this 
same  school,  and  therefore  worth  a  great  price, 
has  constantly  to  be  on  the  watch  lest  her 
relatives  seize  her  by  force  or  intrigue  and  sell 
her.  She  feels  safe  only  under  the  immediate 
protection  of  the  foreign  missionaries,  whose 
homes  her  tormentors  dare  not  molest.  There 
is  a  law  in  China  that  no  woman  can  be  sold 
against  her  will,  but  not  all  women  know  this 
or  are  able  to  avail  themselves  of  the  law  on 
account  of  the  corruption  of  the  courts. 

The  bright  spot,  however,  in  the  gloomy 
picture  of  married  life  in  China  is  that  the 
*' prophets"  are  recognizing  the  evils  of  certain 
customs,  not  only  as  affecting  conjugal  life, 
but    also    national    life.      For    example,    early 

62 


THE  WIFE 

marriage  is  held  to  be  responsible  for  over- 
population, for  infanticide,  and  for  diminished 
vitality.  Again  the  question  of  the  single 
family  or  the  composite  family  is  a  burning 
one,  at  least  with  the  prospective  brides,  and 
an  amusing  story  is  told  of  a  young  lady  who 
chose  between  two  or  three  eligible  suitors  the 
one  who  had  no  mother.  This  meant  no  mother- 
in-law  and  a  separate  household.  Again,  the 
voices  of  the  women  of  China  are  lifted  against 
concubinage,  and,  with  their  growing  power 
and  standing,  their  voices  will  not  be  altogether 
unheeded. 


63 


IV 

The  Priestess 

One  of  the  functions  of  woman  from  time  im- 
memorial has  been  that  of  the  priestess,  some- 
times to  their  honor  and  sometimes  to  their 
dishonor,  if  we  read  aright  the  history  of  the 
temple  services.  In  Rome  the  Vestal  Virgin 
embodied  the  highest  ideals  of  purity  and 
worth.  In  Corinth  and  Egypt  the  priestesses 
were  servants  of  sensuality.  In  China  the  duties 
of  the  priestess  were  performed  in  the  privacy 
of  the  house  as  the  assistant  of  the  husband. 
It  is  her  duty  to  prepare  the  daily  sacrifice  and 
keep  fresh  flowers  on  the  family  altar.  On 
festal  or  anniversary  days  she  accompanies  her 
husband  to  the  Ancestral  Hall  and  takes  part 
in  the  worship  by  burning  incense  and  repeat- 
ing prayers  before  the  ancestral  tablets  erected 

64 


THE  PRIESTESS 

to  both  male  and  female  progenitors.  Like- 
wise she  goes  with  the  family  to  make  the 
yearly  offering  at  the  grave  of  the  dead,  and  as 
a  bride  her  first  act  is  to  worship  the  tablets 
of  the  bridegroom's  ancestors. 

Numerous  references  are  made  to  the  part 
which  the  queen  or  princess  takes  in  the  sacri- 
ficial rites  in  that  priceless  '^Book  of  Poetry/* 
and  a  short  poem  celebrating  the  diligence  and 
reverence  of  the  young  wife  of  an  officer  is  as 
follows : 

''She  gathers  fast  the  large  duckweed, 

From  valley  stream  that  southward  flows; 
And  for  the  pondweed  to  the  pools 
Left  on  the  plains  she  goes. 

"The  plants,  when  closed  her  toil,  she  puts 
In  baskets  round  and  baskets  square. 
Then  home  she  hies  to  cook  her  spoil, 
In  pans  and  tripods  ready  there. 

"In  sacred  chamber  this  she  sets. 

Where  the  light  falls  down  through  the  wall. 
'T  is  she,  our  lord's  young,  reverent  wife, 

Who  manages  this  service  all." 
5  65 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

The  Empress  of  China,  as  the  wife  of  the 
Emperor  and  high  priest,  is  called  the  ^'in- 
terior assistant,*'  and  holds  the  situation  of 
earth  to  heaven,  being  supposedly  the  mother 
of  the  empire  as  the  Emperor  is  the  father. 
The  Emperor  worships  four  times  a  year  for 
his  people  at  the  great  shrines  in  Pekin,  some- 
what as  the  high  priest  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
did.  The  Empress  annually  offers  sacrifice  at 
the  altar  of  Yuenfi,  the  reputed  discoverer  of 
the  silkworm,  in  order  to  insure  the  successful 
rearing  of  the  silkworm,  whose  care  devolves 
upon  the  women  and  forms  one  of  China's  most 
important  industries.  The  tablet  of  the  Empress 
stands  side  by  side  with  that  of  the  Emperor 
in  the  imperial  temples,  thus  showing  the  es- 
teem and  reverence  in  which  the  High  Priestess 
of  the  nation  is  held. 

After  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  the 
Chinese  Empire  and  sanctioned  by  the  Em- 
peror early  in  the  Christian  era,  monasteries 
and  nunneries  were  founded  somewhat  similar 
to  the  Catholic  institutions  of  Europe. '   The 

66 


THE  PRIESTESS 

following  IS  a  brief  account  of  the  life  of  the 
Buddhist  nun:  *' Daily  exercises  are  to  be  con- 
ducted by  her;  the  furniture  of  the  small 
sanctuary  that  forms  a  part  of  the  convent  must 
be  looked  after  and  kept  clean  and  orderly; 
those  women  or  men  who  come  to  worship  at 
the  altars  and  seek  guidance  and  comfort  must 
be  cared  for  and  assisted.  When  there  is  leisure 
the  sick  and  the  poor  are  to  be  visited;  and  all 
who  have  placed  themselves  under  her  special 
direction  and  spiritual  instruction  have  a  strong 
claim  on  her  regard.  That  she  may  live  a  life 
of  seclusion  and  self-denial,  she  must  vow  per- 
petual virginity.  The  thought  of  marriage 
should  never  enter  her  head,  and  the  society 
of  men  must  be  shunned.  On  her  death  she 
will  be  swallowed  up  in  nihility.'' 

In  nunneries  of  the  better  class  the  women 
are  taught  to  read  their  own  liturgies  and 
sacred  books,  and  also  the  great  classics  of 
Chinese  literature.  Some  become  very  pro- 
ficient scholars  in  history,  literature,  and  the- 
ology.     Others   devote   themselves   almost  en- 

67 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

tirely  to  prayers  and  fasting,  hoping  thereby  to 
gain  eternal  happiness.  They  are  always  vege- 
tarians, and,  indeed,  many  of  the  women  of 
China  abstain  from  eating  meat  on  certain  days 
of  the  months  as  good  Catholics  observe  Friday. 
The  head  is  shaven  on  taking  the  vow,  and  the 
regulation  robe  is  one  of  coarse  gray  cloth,  and 
is  exactly  like  that  worn  by  monks. 

Many  stories  are  told  of  the  profligacy  and 
dissoluteness  of  the  nuns  and  monks,  which 
has  in  times  past  occasioned  the  closing  of  in- 
stitutions in  certain  localities.  In  one  such 
instance  the  paternal  official  found  husbands 
for  all  the  nuns,  thus  insuring  that  the  nun- 
neries would  never  be  reopened.  Of  course 
abuses  will  creep  into  any  institution,  but  the 
original  intention  of  the  founders  was  great  and 
pure,  and  these  retreats  were  no  doubt  often 
sought  by  forlorn  women,  as  were  the  convents 
of  the  Middle  Ages  in  Europe.  The  financial 
support  is  usually  obtained  through  soliciting 
alms,  the  small  fees  charged  for  saying  masses, 
or  by  cultivating  rich  patrons.    Sometimes  con- 

68 


THE  PRIESTESS 

vents  are  founded  and  maintained  by  a  wealthy 
woman  who  desires  to  devote  herself  to  good 
works. 

Such  was  the  case  of  a  certain  lady  of  a  fine 
family  in  the  city  of  Wuhu,  whose  story  is 
related  below  at  some  length,  for  it  shows 
certain  characteristic  features  of  Chinese  life 
in  regard  to  women.  It  will  also  serve,  perhaps, 
to  bring  out  points  of  resemblance  and  of  dif- 
ference in  the  Christian  and  the  Buddhist  re- 
ligion, for  Christianity  must  prove  its  superi- 
ority over  other  religions  before  it  can  hope  to 
convert  adherents  of  other  faiths.  This  superi- 
ority consists  in  the  fundamental  statement  of 
the  nature  of  God,  as  it  seems  to  the  writer. 
*'God  is  love,**  is  the  Christian's  definition  of 
Deity.    "God  is  all,"  is  the  cry  of  the  Buddhist. 

The  Abbess  of  Wuhu  •  / 

Li  Chen  Chu  was  born  on  a  beautiful  and 
rich  estate  not  far  from  the  prosperous  and 
picturesque  city  of  Wuhu,  a  trade  emporium 
on  the  banks  of  the  mighty  Yangtze,  two  hun- 

69 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

dred  miles  from  its  mouth.  Not  only  was  her 
father  a  man  of  wealth,  but  also  of  great  learn- 
ing, having  received  the  coveted  degrees  which 
raise  a  man  into  the  ranks  of  the  Chinese 
gentry.  Being  a  broad-minded  man,  he  al- 
lowed his  little  daughter  to  study  with  her 
brothers  under  the  private  tutor  whom  he  kept 
constantly  in  the  house,  so  that  she  became  a 
brilliant  scholar.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  she 
married  a  young  man,  also  of  great  wealth  and 
scholarly  attainments,  with  whom  she  lived 
most  happily  for  five  years,  pursuing  her  studies 
with  him,  for  they  found  one  another  very 
congenial.  About  that  time  the  great  Taiping 
rebellion  spread  to  Wuhu,  so  that  Madam 
Wang,  for  such  was  her  name  after  marriage, 
and  her  family  were  obliged  to  leave  their 
home  and  take  refuge  in  a  Buddhist  temple 
situated  in  a  secluded  valley  high  up  in  the 
mountains  to  the  south  and  east. 

Here  they  lived  amid  great  privations,  and 
as  her  husband,  Mr.  Wang,  was  the  head  of 
his   family,   he   felt  keenly   the  heavy  respon- 

70 


THE  PRIESTESS 

sibility  of  providing  for  all  of  its  members. 
Their  two  beautiful  children  died,  then  a 
younger  brother,  leaving  heart-broken  the  young 
couple.  It  was  then  that  they  became  inter- 
ested in  the  Buddhistic  doctrines,  which  pro- 
fessed to  know  about  the  future  life;  and  in  this 
new  religion  they  found  much  consolation,  be- 
lieving that  their  loved  ones  were  hap^py  in 
another  state. 

At  last,  worn  out  by  the  anxieties  and  hard- 
ships, for  Mr.  Wang  never  spared  himself 
where  the  well-being  of  other  members  of  the 
family  was  concerned,  the  young  husband  died, 
and,  by  choice  of  the  family,  his  wife  was  made 
the  head,  as  all  recognized  her  ability  and  de- 
votion. After  the  close  of  the  disastrous  war 
she  returned  to  her  home  to  find  all  laid  waste. 
With  great  energy  she  at  once  set  up  a  rice  mill 
and  shop,  and  gradually  brought  the  farms  once 
more  into  cultivation. 

Having  restored  the  family  prosperity,  she 
decided  to  retire  from  its  headship.  She  divided 
the  inheritance  with   her  brother-in-law,   took 

71 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

her  portion  and  erected  a  temple  with  a  great 
idol  in  a  beautiful  valley  near  Wuhu.  In  time 
a  band  of  women  gathered  around  her,  mostly 
widows  or  those  who  had  lost  their  betrothed 
ones,  and  hence  could  not  marry  again.  She 
devoted  her  time  to  teaching  them  the  Buddhist 
doctrines,  the  care  of  the  sick,  and  the  relief 
of  the  poor.  Rich  herself,  she  supported  the 
temple  from  her  land,  never  asking  the  public 
for  a  penny.  As  Abbess  of  the  convent  she 
was  renowned  for  her  wisdom,  charity,  and 
piety,  and  she  never  failed  to  make  a  yearly 
visit  to  her  aged  mother-in-law  and  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  grave  of  her  husband. 

Now,  one  day  when  the  Abbess  was  old  and 
full  of  years,  a  strange  book  fell  into  her  hands. 
It  was  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  which  a  mere 
child  had  given  to  one  of  her  nuns  as  she  had 
stopped  one  day  to  listen  to  the  words  of  the 
foreigner  who  was  the  child's  father.  Eagerly 
she  read  and  re-read  it,  for  it  greatly  resembled 
one  of  the  Buddhist  holy  writings,  *'The  Lotus 
Essence,"  with  which  she  eagerly  compared  it. 

72 


THE  PRIESTESS 

Secretly  she  sent  to  the  foreign  hospital  on  the 
cliff  overlooking  the  broad  Yangtze,  and  ob- 
tained a  copy  of  all  the  sacred  writings  called 
the  Bible.  Shortly  after  this  a  woman  mis- 
sionary and  her  Chinese  co-worker  arriving  at 
the  mission,  it  was  deemed  wise  to  send  the 
Chinese  Bible  woman,  who  was  a  cultured  and 
scholarly  lady,  to  call  on  the  Abbess  in  order  to 
explain  to  her  the  Christian  interpretation  of 
what  she  had  read.  Mrs.  Chi  gladly  consented 
to  go,  and,  ordering  a  chair,  went  in  fitting 
though  unpretentious  state  to  the  convent.  Al- 
though the  reverend  lady  was  confined  to  her 
bed  through  sickness  and  old  age,  her  mind  was 
as  alert  as  ever,  and  on  receipt  of  Mrs.  Chi's 
long,  red  visiting  card  she  at  once  ordered  the 
stranger  to  be  brought  into  her  presence. 

The  moment  Mrs.  Chi's  eyes  fell  upon  the 
face  of  the  Abbess  she  recognized  in  her  a 
cousin  whom  she  had  not  seen  since  childhood, 
but  of  this  recognition  she  have  no  sign.  The 
aged  nun  plied  her  with  many  questions  con- 
cerning the  foreigner's  religion,  and  their  morals 

73 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

and  customs.  Learning  that  she  was  from 
Nanking,  the  Abbess  said:  "There  was  a 
woman  in  my  aunt's  family  who  adopted  this 
strange  religion,  and  when  her  husband  died 
his  people  would  have  sold  her  to  a  rich  official 
for  a  concubine.  She  ran  away  to  Nanking 
with  her  little  daughter  to  a  Christian  school. 
Have  you  perhaps  heard  of  her?"  "I  am  she," 
replied  Mrs.  Chi  quietly;  ''I  am  your  cousin." 

The  Abbess  gladly  renewed  the  long-broken 
acquaintance  with  her  kinswoman,  and  was 
much  impressed  with  her  dignity,  learning,  and 
spirituality.  Said  the  Buddhist  to  the  Chris- 
tian lady: 

'*  There  is  none  of  my  disciples  fitted  to 
take  my  place.  Do  you  come  and  study  with 
me  and  take  up  the  work  I  feel  that  I  must 
soon  lay  down." 

Mrs.  Chi  thanked  her  very  sincerely,  but 
gently  replied  that  she  had  found  something 
truer  and  better  than  Buddhism. 

''Yes,"  admitted  the  Abbess,  "Christianity 
is  a  true  religion." 

74 


THE  PRIESTESS 

"Then  why  not  renounce  Buddhism  and 
adopt  the  Christ  doctrine?" 

"Must  I  renounce  Buddhism  in  order  to 
receive  the  benefits  of  the  new  doctrine?" 

"Yes,  the  Christian  reHgion  is  the  renuncia- 
tion and  the  fulfillment  of  all  other  religions, 
for  it  is  for  all  mankind  alike,  and  is  for  time 
and  eternity." 

"Ah,  then,"  cried  the  Abbess,  "I  can  not 
believe  and  accept  the  doctrine.  For  what 
should  I  do?  Here  are  all  my  old  pupils  back 
for  my  last  instructions  before  I  go  to  Nirvana. 
No,  it  is  too  late  to  change.  Would  that  I 
had  heard  it  in  my  youth,  for  it  is  true  and  so 
beautiful.  God's  love  for  the  whole  world,  for 
women  and  children  as  for  men;  for  the  igno- 
rant as  well  as  the  wise ;  for  the  poor  as  well  as 
the  rich,  for  there  are  no  costly  sacrifices  to  be 
made.  Yes,  that  is  true.  Each  has  a  soul 
sent  out  from  God  which  longs  to  return  to  its 
Maker." 

Before  going  the  Christian  lady  offered  a 
prayer  for  the  Abbess  at  her  request,  and  then 

75 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

they  parted — one  a  recluse  in  the  beautiful 
wooded  temple,  seeking  peace  and  Nirvana; 
the  other  a  deaconess  and  evangelist  going  about 
the  crowded  city  streets  and  country  lanes, 
ministering  to  the  daughters  of  the  poor  and 
suffering,  or  cheering  the  sorrowing  among  the 
rich.  Another  cycle  of  seasons  had  come  and 
gone  before  Mrs.  Chi  found  it  possible  to  re- 
turn, and  the  Abbess  had  gone  to  find  the 
truth  in  the  realm  of  spirit  beyond  this  earthly 
Hfe. 

Although  numerically  the  Christians  are  not 
at  all  strong  in  China,  hardly  three  hundred 
thousand  Protestants  and  about  one  million 
Catholics,  yet  they  are  bound  to  influence  very 
largely  the  future  of  China,  because  they  are  a 
part  of  the  progressive  movement  that  has 
come  from  the  West.  Especially  have  the 
Christians  made  use  of  women  in  their  religious 
work,  since  men  are  not  supposed  to  visit 
women,  and  the  women  do  not  readily  come  to 
public   services  held   by   men.     These   women 

76 


THE  PRIESTESS 

are  called  Bible  women,  because  at  first  their 
only  work  was  to  expound  and  teach  the  Bible 
and  Christian  hymns  and  catechisms.  As  the 
work  of  missions  have  grown,  they  have  en- 
larged the  scope  of  their  work  until  now  they 
are  everything  from  the  philanthropic  and 
social  worker  to  the  elementary  school  teacher 
in  the  country  towns. 

Some  of  these  women  are  from  the  best 
families  and  already  possessed  of  some  educa- 
tion before  they  enter  the  training-school,  where 
they  are  taught  the  Bible  and  methods  of 
Christian  work.  They  have  access  to  the  best 
homes  in  the  community  and  are  always  wel- 
come visitors,  for  they  come  from  the  outside 
world,  which  the  woman  of  wealth  has  little 
opportunity  of  seeing.  It  has  been  my  privilege 
to  know  personally  some  of  these  women  and 
to  accompany  them  on  their  visits  to  the  houses 
of  high  officials.  Likewise  I  have  gone  with 
them  to  the  poorest  home,  and  once  to  a  large 
municipal  home  for  poor  widows  and  orphans 
in  the  city  of  Nanking.     How  glad  the  women 

77 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

and  children  were  to  see  us,  and  how  much  they 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  lessons,  the  songs,  and  the 
pictures!  Once  an  official  on  the  governing 
board  met  a  Bible  woman  coming  out,  and, 
stopping  her,  commended  her  work  and  in- 
vited her  to  continue  it. 

During  the  late  revolution  in  China  the 
Bible  women  acted  as  Red  Cross  nurses  in  the 
hospitals,  and  after  the  siege  of  Nanking  was 
over  they  did  most  efficient  work  among  the 
people  left  destitute  by  the  fortunes  of  war. 
Under  the  supervision  of  one  of  the  foreign 
missionaries  they  carried  on  a  Home  for  poor 
Manchu  women  and  children  in  the  city,  and 
received  the  entire  financial  support  from  the 
rich  merchants,  who  were  delighted  with  their 
methods  of  teaching  the  women  to  sew  and 
the  children  to  read  and  sing.  Others  visited 
among  the  poorest  families  during  the  day  to 
find  out  their  needs,  and  after  nightfall  dis- 
tributed the  bundles  surreptitiously,  for  it  was 
not  thought  best   to   let   the   recipients  know 

78 


THE  PRIESTESS 

whence  the  gifts  came  lest  the  donors  should 
be  besieged  for  help. 

But,  to  relate  all  the  deeds  of  these  good 
women  who  have  taken  upon  themselves  some 
service  to  suffering  humanity  would  take  too 
long.  We  must  picture  them  as  going  about 
doing  good  wherever  they  are  called.  Some 
are  from  the  poorer  classes,  and  work  among 
the  boat  and  field  women,  who  receive  the 
message  more  readily  from  one  who  has  been 
herself  as  one  of  them.  They  accompany  the 
doctor  on  dispensing  trips  or  go  and  nurse  the 
sick.  They  read  to  the  patients  in  the  hos- 
pital wards  or  the  dispensary  waiting-room, 
and  pray  and  sing  with  those  who  will  listen. 
They  hold  prayer  meetings  and  Sunday  schools; 
they  help  poor  souls  to  break  off  from  the  opium 
habit;  they  persuade  girls  and  women  to  un- 
bind their  feet  and  to  abstain  from  binding  the 
feet  of  little  ones.     Truly,  ministering  angels! 

Thus  we  have  seen  briefly  what  part  the 
woman  plays  in  the  different  religions  of  China. 

79 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

A  priestess  through  motherhood  in  the  an- 
cestral worship;  a  nun  in  the  Buddhist  rehgion, 
which  seeks  salvation  through  renunciation; 
in  the  Christian  faith,  a  religious  teacher  and 
social  worker  amid  the  suffering  throngs  of 
humanity. 


80 


V 

Illustrious  Women  of  China 

As  ONE  reads  the  history  of  different  peoples 
one  is  struck  with  the  many  points  of  similarity 
which  marks  the  progress  of  their  development. 
One  of  these  is  that  every  nation  has  its  great 
women.  There  are  great  women  rulers,  schol- 
ars, and  poetesses  of  ancient  and  modern  times 
who  rank  not  simply  as  great  among  women, 
but  as  great  among  their  masculine  compeers. 
One  has  but  to  mention  the  names  of  Deborah 
of  Israel,  Sappho  of  Greece,  Cleopatra  of  Egypt, 
Elizabeth  of  England,  Mrs.  Lewes  (George 
Eliot),  and  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  and  every 
one  knows  their  place  in  the  galaxy  of  the 
world's  great  geniuses. 

China  is  no  exception  to  this  rule,  and  in 
its  history,   legend,   and  fiction  the  illustrious 
6  81 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

women  of  China  are  revealed  to  us  with  all  the 
charm  which  writers  know  how  to  display  when 
the  theme  is  worthy  of  their  pen.  Besides  the 
frequent  allusions  to  women  in  history  and 
poetry,  there  is  a  book  written  about  125  B.  C. 
called  ''Memoirs  of  Distinguished  Ladies  of 
Ancient  Times/'  which  described  women  of 
the  highest  virtue  and  attainments.  It  con- 
tains most  marvelous  accounts  of  the  extreme 
modesty,  courteousness,  and  filial  piety  for 
which  these  ladies  were  noted,  as  well  as  of 
their  great  wisdom  and  devotion  to  duty.  It 
is  after  these  models  that  the  young  women  of 
China  are  supposed  to  pattern  their  conduct 
in  order  that  they  may  fulfill  their  proper  place 
in  life.  The  following  anecdote  is  characteristic 
of  the  whole  series: 

''Chiang,  the  daughter  of  the  Marquis  of 
Ch'i,  was  the  queen  of  the  King  Hsuan  of  Chow. 
Her  wisdom  and  her  virtue  made  her  famous, 
and  it  was  said  her  words  and  acts  were  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  demands  of  etiquette 
and  propriety.    The  ruler  of  Chow,  her  master, 

82 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

was,  however,  fond  of  the  pleasures  of  the 
palace,  retiring  thereto  quite  early  in  the  night 
and  being  constantly  late  in  attending  to  his 
duties  the  next  morning.  The  queen,  finding 
remonstrance  useless,  removed  her  insignia  of 
state,  and  left  the  palace  to  live  in  a  humble 
dwelling,  whence  she  sent  messengers  to  inform 
the  king  that  she  was  awaiting  orders  for  her 
punishment,  saying:  'Inform  His  Highness  that 
his  humble  consort  is  a  worthless  woman  and 
has  been  the  means  of  causing  His  Highness  to 
forget  the  rules  of  propriety  so  far  as  to  be  late 
in  arriving  at  the  audience  hall.  This  neglect 
of  regal  duties  is  proved  by  His  Highness's  de- 
light in  pleasures  and  want  of  attention  to  his 
proper  role.  Those  who  love  pleasure  will 
glide  into  extravagance  and  will  be  reckless 
in  the  indulgence  of  passion.  Such  extrava- 
gance and  indulgence  will  be  the  cause  of  dis- 
order. I  humbly  beg  His  Highness  to  be  pleased 
to  punish  me.* 

"When  the  king  heard  this  he  said,  'I  am 
wanting  in  virtue.     I  have  been  neglecting  my 

83 


\ 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 


duties,  and  I  alone  am  at  fault.  The  empress 
has  no  fault/  And  he  forthwith  sent  for  her, 
and  once  more  devoted  himself  to  the  affairs 
of  the  government,  getting  up  early  and  going 
to  bed  late,  so  that  he  recovered  any  prestige 
that  he  had  previously  lost  and  earned  an  im- 

rortal  name." 
The  most  celebrated  lady  of  ancient  times 
was  the  great  Empress  Wu,  who  reigned  over 
a  thousand  years  ago,  strongly  ^nd  brilliantly. 
Wedded  to  a  weak  Emperor,  she  first  gained 
absolute  control  over  him,  and  at  his  death  she 
became  the  reigning  sovereign  in  name  as  well 
as  in  fact.  During  her  long  period  she  extended 
the  limits  of  the  empire  and  contributed  mark- 
edly to  the  welfare  of  her  people.  She  favored 
the  education  of  women,  established  colleges 
for  them,  and  even  granted  them  degrees,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  some  of  the  learned  gentlemen. 
Women  were  allowed  greater  freedom  than 
ever  before  and,  indeed,  the  great  Empress  was 
severly  criticised  for  a  too  great  liberty  of  man- 
ner and  morals.     But  she  was  great  in  state- 

84 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

craft,  and  left  her  mark  on  the  Chinese  Empire 
as  few  men  have  done.  It  was  only  when 
weakened  by  age  that  she  was  forced  by  her 
son  and  ministers  to  retire  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one.  To  another  great  empress,  the  Empress 
Lii,  is  credited  that  consolidation  of  power 
which  marked  the  rise  of  the  Han  dynasty. 

Among  the  considerable  number  of  poetessesv^ 
and  scholarly  women  who  grace  the  literature 
of  the  great  kingdom,  none  is  more  renowned 
than  Pan  Chao  who,  upon  her  death,  received 
from  her  royal  patron,  the  Emperor,  the  title 
of  the  Great  Lady  Tsao.  Her  period  is  given 
as  that  of  the  first  century  A.  D.,  and  as  the 
sister  of  a  very  celebrated  court  histiographer, 
she  was  appointed  to  complete  the  work  which 
was  left  unfinished  by  her  brother's  death. 
She  wrote  also  the  first  treatise  on  female  edu- 
cation in  any  language,  it  is  said,  and  in  her 
late  years  she  was  appointed  preceptress  of  the 
Empress.  Although  such  a  brilliant  scholar 
herself,  she  places  virtue  above  learning  and 
urges  the  elevation  of  female  character.     She 

85 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

emphasizes  morals  and  domestic  science  as  the 
two  branches  to  which  women  should  devote 
their  energies,  and  does  not  advise  the  classics 
and  histories  for  the  great  majority  of  her  sex. 
The  following  extract  from  this  work  is  after 
Williams:  ''The  virtue  of  a  female  does  not 
altogether  consist  in  extraordinary  ability  or 
intelligence,  but  in  being  modestly  grave  and 
inviolably  chaste,  observing  the  requirements 
of  virtuous  widowhood,  and  in  being  tidy  in 
her  person  and  everything  about  her;  in  what- 
ever she  does  to  be  unassuming,  and  whenever 
she  moves  or  sits  to  be  decorous.  This  is  female 
virtue/' 

Another  poetess,  the  Lady  Pan,  was  also  a 
great  favorite  of  the  reigning  Emperor,  who 
even  invited  her  to  ride  by  his  side  in  the 
imperial  chariot.  She  had  the  good  sense  to 
refuse,  and  replied,  ''Your  handmaid  has  heard 
that  wise  rulers  of  old  were  always  accompanied 
by  virtuous  ministers,  but  never  that  they 
drove  with  women  by  their  side."  She  was 
later  supplanted   by   a  younger  favorite,   and 

86 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

gracefully  acknowledged  this  by  writing  the 
following  verses  upon  a  silken  fan  which  she 
sent  to  the  Emperor: 

*'0  fair  white  silk,  fresh  from  the  weaver's  loom, 
Clear  as  the  frost,  bright  as  the  winter's  snow — 
See!    Friendship  fashions  out  of  thee  a  fan. 
Round  as  the  round  moon  shines  in  the  heaven 

above. 
At  home,  abroad,  a  close  companion  thou, 
Stirring  at  every  move  the  graceful  gale. 
And  yet  I  fear,  ah  me!  that  autumn  chill 
Cooling  the  dying  summer's  torrid  rage. 
Will  see  thee  laid  neglected  on  the  shelf. 
All  thought  of  bygone  days,  like  them  bygone." 

Among  the  women  of  later  times  the  late  k 
great  Empress  Dowager  stands  pre-eminent  as 
the  best  known.  At  first  she  was  a  concubine 
of  the  young  Emperor  who  occupied  the  throne 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  by 
her  charm  and  ability  and  the  fact  that  she 
was  the  mother  of  the  heir,  won  a  tremendous 
influence  over  her  weak  young  husband,  so  that 
she  was  virtually  the  ruler  during  the  last  years 

87 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

of  his  life,  and  was  thus  able  to  attract  to  her- 
self a  following  in  the  palace  which  stood  her 
in  good  stead  later.  On  the  death  of  the  Em- 
peror she  caused  herself  to  be  made  joint 
regent  with  the  first  wife,  but  as  the  stronger  of 
the  two  she  it  was  who  swayed  the  destiny  of 
the  Chinese  nation  at  a  time  of  peculiar  peril. 
Within  was  the  great  Taiping  Rebellion  and 
without  were  the  Western  Powers  making  all 
sorts  of  insolent  demands  on  the  Middle  King- 
dom. That  she  kept  China  together  in  these 
perilous  times  and  that  she  left  the  empire  prac- 
tically intact  at  her  death  was  no  small  achieve- 
ment. 

To  describe  the  Empress  Dowager  may  not 
be  so  difficult,  but  to  judge  her  while  the  mo- 
mentous events  in  which  she  was  the  central 
figure  are  still  so  recent,  is  impossible.  Pos- 
sessed of  a  strong  intellect,  she  had  every  ad- 
vantage of  education  in  her  youth,  and  continued 
to  the  end  of  her  days  the  accomplished  scholar, 
essayist,  and  artist.  A  faithful  student  of  his- 
tory, she  herself  became  a  maker  of  history  at 

8S 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

a  time  when  the  most  profound  changes  were 
taking  place  in  all  departments  of  life,  for  the 
last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  saw  epoch- 
making  changes  in  government,  in  science,  in 
commerce,  and  in  education.  How  little  this 
royal  woman  was  influenced  by  all  these  tre- 
mendous events,  shut  up  as  she  was  in  the  seclu- 
sion of  her  palace,  we  can  see  by  the  sympathy 
she  displayed  for  the  Boxer  movement.  At 
last,  aroused  by  the  danger  which  threatened 
her  country  at  that  time,  she  apparently  be- 
came thoroughly  converted  to  the  principles  of 
constitutional  government  and  to  Western  learn- 
ing. An  astute  and  autocratic  monarch,  winning 
her  way  by  charm  or  guile  and  enforcing  her 
will  by  intrigue,  bribery,  or  violence,  as  best 
suited  her  purpose,  she  was  at  the  same  time 
a  lover  of  luxury  and  beauty,  and  could  be  a 
charming  friend.  Various  estimates  have  been 
made  of  her  character,  but  probably  no  one 
person  had  full  opportunity  to  observe  her  ver- 
satile personality  and  to  see  her  as  empress, 
artist,  and  lady  of  leisure.    Perhaps  no  foreigner 

89 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

has  summed  up  her  dominant  characteristics 
better  than  Mr.  Bland  has  done  in  the  following 
paragraph : 

"Despite  her  swiftly  changing  and  uncon- 
trolled moods,  her  childish  lack  of  moral  sense, 
her  unscrupulous  love  of  power,  her  fierce  pas- 
sions and  revenges,  Tsu  Hsi  was  no  more  the 
savage  monster  described  by  'Wen  Ching,*  than 
she  was  the  benevolent,  fashion-plate  Lady 
Bountiful  of  the  American  magazines.  She  was 
simply  a  woman  of  unusual  courage  and  vital- 
ity, of  strong  will  and  unbounded  ambitions,  a 
woman  and  an  Oriental,  living  out  her  life  by 
such  lights  as  she  knew,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  traditions  of  her  racQ^nd  caste.  Says  Ching 
Shan  in  his  diary:  'The  nature  of  the  Empress 
is  peace-loving.  She  has  seen  many  springs  and 
autumns.  I  myself  know  well  her  refined  and 
gentle  tastes,  her  love  of  painting,  poetry,  and 
the  theater.  When  in  a  good  mood  she  is  the 
most  amiable  and  tractable  of  women,  but  at 
times  her  rage  is  awful  to  witness.*  Here  we 
have    the    woman    drawn    from    life,    without 

90 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

arriere  pensee,  by  a  just  and  sympathetic  ob- 
server, the  woman  who  could  win,  and  hold, 
the  affectionate  loyalty  of  the  greatest  men  of 
her  time,  not  to  speak  of  that  of  her  serving 
maids  and  retainers;  the  woman  whose  human 
interest  and  sympathy  in  everything  around  her 
were  not  withered  by  age  or  staled  by  custom; 
yet  whj^,  at  a  word,  could  send  the  fierce  leaders 
of  the  Boxers  cowering  from  her  presence/* 

Mrs.  Conger,  the  wife  of  the  American  min- 
ister at  Peking  at  the  time  of  the  Boxer  trouble, 
enjoyed  a  friendly  intercourse  with  the  Empress 
Dowager,  and  has  only  words  of  praise  for  her 
gracious  ways  and  kind  heart.  In  her  famous 
"Letters  from  Peking,''  she  pays  this  tribute  to 
the  royal  lady  of  China:  "The  history  of  her 
days  mark  the  course  of  a  strong  woman's 
stepping.  .  .  .  Through  this  woman's  life 
the  world  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  hidden  quality 
of  China's  womanhood." 

Although  not  famous,  yet  according  to  Mrs. 
Conger  and  other  American  ladies  in  China, 
there  were  many  strong  and  educated  women  in 

91 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

court  and  official  circles  in  Peking.  In  one 
place  Mrs.  Conger  says:  "I  find  they  are  in- 
terested in  the  affairs  of  their  own  country  and 
also  in  the  affairs  of  other  countries.  They 
study  the  edicts  and  read  the  newspapers.  At 
times  I  refer  to  items  and  events  to  bring  out 
their  ideas,  and  I  find  that  they  have  much  in- 
formation to  give.'* 

A  number  of  women  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  promoting  education  and  pushing 
various  reforms.  Celebrated  all  over  China  is 
Dr.  Mary  Stone,  who  for  years  has  had  charge 
of  the  American  Methodist  Mission  Hospital 
in  Kiukiang.  She  has  a  large  nurses'  training 
class,  and  treats  as  high  as  16,000  patients  in  a 
year,  besides  performing  a  large  number  of  oper- 
ations. In  addition  to  this,  she  finds  time  to 
give  a  little  supervision  to  the  educational  work 
out  in  the  country  districts  and  also  to  the 
Bible  women  at  work  and  in  training.  During 
the  revolution  she  rendered  signal  service  as  a 
Red  Cross  worker  when  the  city  of  Kiukiang 
was  captured.    Besides  this,  she  is  an  excellent 

92 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

speaker,  and  writes  very  well  in  both  Chinese 
and  EngHsh.  She  is  a  type  of  the  modern 
woman  in  China,  which  all  friends  of  that 
country  hope  to  see  multiplied. 

Here  is  a  story  of  a  locally  famous  woman, 
which  is  given  almost  word  for  word  as  it  was 
written  in  a  report  of  a  missionary  at  Nanking: 

''Miss  Chen  is  the  granddaughter  of  a  re- 
markable woman,  one  of  the  first  Christians 
north  of  the  river,  who  believed  at  the  age  of 
seventy.  It  was  a  few  years  after  this  that  she 
sent  her  eldest  granddaughter  to  school,  as  her 
most  precious  gift  to  Christ.  After  two  years 
reverses  came.  Miss  Chen's  betrothed  died, 
her  mother  died,  and  soon  after  that  the  grand- 
mother, and  then  the  father,  which  left  her  with 
the  burden  of  the  family  and  the  farm.  She 
struggled  on  bravely  for  ten  years,  until  the 
farm  was  in  a  prosperous  condition  and  the 
family  able  to  do  without  her.  During  this 
time  she  had  kept  the  faith,  though  without  a 
Christian  friend,  and  often  with  open  hostility 
from  her  relatives.    She  finally  won  the  esteem 

93 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

of  her  family  and  clan  and  was  acknowledged  as 
the  head  of  the  family.  She  also  purchased  an 
adjoining  farm,  and  although  an  unmarried 
woman,  she  was  really  the  first  woman  of  im- 
portance in  her  village,  and  was  known  in  all 
the  neighboring  country  as  the  'Christian  girl 
who  managed  a  farm  all  alone  and  was  the  head 
of  a  family/  Not  far  from  the  home  is  a  fine 
stone  monument  such  as  is  erected  to  the  mem- 
ory of  honorable  women.  This  had  long  years 
before  been  dedicated  by  order  of  the  Emperor 
to  the  memory  of  her  grandmother.  But  follow- 
ing Christ's  call,  she  has  given  up  all  this  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  has  returned  to  the 
school  for  special  preparation." 

During  the  revolution  several  women  became 
noted  for  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  their  country's 
freedom.  Pathetic  stories  are  told  of  two  young 
women  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  pre-revolu- 
tionary  stage.  One  a  celebrated  actress  who 
was  making  vast  sums  in  her  profession,  sent 
all  her  wealth  to  America  to  purchase  arms  and 
ammunition   for   the   revolutionists.      Unfortu- 

94 


ILLUSTRIOUS  WOMEN  OF  CHINA 

nately,  she  was  suspected  in  connection  with 
the  sudden  death  of  one  of  her  many  admirers, 
and  when  the  secret  of  the  disposal  of  her 
wealth  was  discovered,  she  was  beheaded  as  a 
traitor  to  her  country.  Another  was  a  young 
girl  in  Nanking  who  was  left  an  immense  fortune 
by  her  father.  While  a  student  in  Japan  she 
became  an  earnest  revolutionist  and  devoted  all 
of  her  wealth  to  the  cause,  even  engaging  her- 
self in  the  smuggling  of  dynamite  and  arms  into 
China. 

The  writer  knows  personally  some  little 
Chinese  ladies  who  joined  the  army  and  ran 
away  from  their  homes  to  throw  bombs  and 
overthrow  the  dynasty.  Women  of  all  classes 
were  burning  with  patriotic  loyalty  and  willing 
to  speak  in  public,  pledge  their  jewels,  nurse 
the  wounded,  or  shoulder  a  musket.  With  such 
unselfish  and  dauntless  spirits,  China  will  not 
lack  for  women  to  carry  on  the  work  of  regen- 
erating the  people  of  the  great  empire,  and  will 
undoubtedly  furnish  her  quota  of  famous  women 
to  the  twentieth  century. 

95 


VI 

The  Education  of  Women 

The  aim  of  education  in  China  for  men  has 
been  a  noble  one,  that  of  preparing  for  the  public 
service  of  the  State.  As  some  one  has  said, 
this  system  of  education  and  official  service  is 
the  nearest  approach  to  Plato^s  ideal  state, 
where  the  wisest  men  should  be  the  rulers. 
Official  places  were  not  open  to  women,  which 
may  account  for  the  fact  that  so  little  was  done 
for  the  education  of  girls  and  women,  and  yet 
as  we  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the 
first  book  on  the  education  of  women  was  writ- 
ten in  China  and  by  a  woman.  To  be  sure,  all 
the  later  educational  books  on  this  subject  in 
China  have  been  modeled  after  this  classic,  and 
all  seem  to  agree  that  the  great  end  of  a  woman's 
education  is  not  an  accumulation  of  classics  and 
C  96 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

commentaries,  but  the  practical  arts  of  the 
house  and  the  wholesome  morals  of  domestic 
life. 

Confucius  gave  this  purpose  for  woman's' 
education:  ''The  aim  of  female  education  is 
perfect  submission,  not  cultivation  and  develop- 
ment of  the  mind/'  If  I  read  aright  the  mean- 
ing of  the  sage,  in  the  light  of  the  customs  and 
institutions  of  China,  he  does  not  mean  mere 
subserviency,  but  rather  the  observance  of  all 
the  rules  and  practices  which  go  towards  making 
a  large  household,  such  as  exists  among  patri- 
archal families  in  the  Orient,  well-ordered.  He 
says,  "Let  the  household  be  rightly  ordered, 
and  the  people  of  the  State  may  be  rightly 
taught.''  The  well-taught  woman,  therefore, 
will  fit  into  the  regime  of  the  household  and  be 
obedient  to  the  head  of  the  house,  whether  it 
be  her  father,  her  husband,  or  her  son.  Also, 
she  will  know  how  to  adjust  herself  to  the  other 
women  of  the  household,  which  may  comprise 
so  many  smaller  groups. 

But  while  these  aims  may  seem  diverse,  yet 
7  97 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

they  both  may  be  said  to  partake  of  one  grand 
purpose — the  improvement  of  the  human  race. 
This  ideal,  the  improvement  of  the  human  race, 
is  so  all-inclusive  that  there  is  room  for  the 
specific  ends  of  masculine  and  feminine  educa- 
tion, and  also  for  scientific,  moral,  religious,  and 
practical  education,  for  all  go  to  make  up  the 
complete,  or,  as  the  Chinese  say,  the  superior 
man.  In  their  specializations,  all  go  to  make  up 
the  well  organized  community  which  strives  for 
the  well  being  of  all  of  its  members. 

In  regard  to  the  need  and  benefit  of  educa- 
a  tion,  we  read  in  the  preface  to  the  celebrated 
'  book  written  in  the  early  part  of  last  century 
on  **The  Virtue,  Speech,  Personal  Appearance, 
and  Duty  of  Women,**  the  following  sensible 
words:  *' Women  are  not  all  alike;  some  are 
good  and  some  are  bad.  For  bringing  them  to 
a  proper  uniformity  there  is  nothing  like  edu- 
cation. In  old  days  both  boys  and  girls  were 
educated.  .  .  .  But  now  the  books  used  no 
longer  exist,  and  we  know  not  the  details  of  the 
system.     The  education  of  the  woman  is  not 

98 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

like  that  of  her  husband,  which  may  be  said  to 
continue  daily  through  life.  For  he  can  always 
take  up  a  classic  or  history  and  familiarize  him- 
self with  the  works  of  miscellaneous  writers; 
whereas  a  woman's  education  does  not  extend 
beyond  ten  years,  after  which  she  takes  upon 
herself  the  manifold  responsibilities  of  a  house- 
hold." 

Perhaps  the  two  most  important  subjects  of 
instruction  for  women  may  be  said  to  be  the 
nurture  of  children  and  deportment,  which  in- 
cludes ethics  as  well  as  etiquette.  From  a 
primer  for  girls  are  these  lines: 

"In  all  your  care  of  tender  babes, 
Mind,  lest  they  are  fed  or  warmed  too  much; 
The  childish  liberty  first  granted 
Must  soon  be  checked  by  rule  and  reign ; 
Guard  them  from  water,  fire,  and  fools; 
Mind  them,  lest  they  're  hurt  or  maimed  by  fcills. 
All  flesh  and  fruits,  when  ill  with  colds 
Are  noxious  drugs  to  tender  bairns, 
Who  want  some  license  in  their  play. 
^^       Be  strict  in  all  you  bid  them  do, 

For  this  will  guard  from  ill  and  woe.'* 
99 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

The  directions  to  a  rich  man  for  selecting  a 
teacher  for  his  offspring  is  highly  characteristic 
of  China:     ^'Choose  from  among  your  concu- 

i  bines  those  who  are  fit  to  be  nurses,  seeking 

\  such  as   are   fit,    mild,    indulgent,  affectionate, 
benevolent,  cheerful,  kind,  dignified,  respectful, 

■  whom   you   will   make  governesses   over   your 

L.  children/' 

•  It  has  often  been  a  matter  of  surprise  to  see 
how  readily  the  Chinese  as  well  as  the  Japanese 
N<t  have  approved  of  the  kindergarten  and  have 
sought  to  introduce  it  into  their  system  of  edu- 
cation. This  is  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  have  always  laid  stress  on  the  preparation 
of  women  for  the  care  and  training  of  young 
children  before  the  school  age.  Considering  the 
large  families  which  live  together  and  the  retir- 
ing customs  of  the  country  for  women,  it  would 
seem  an  admirable  plan  to  have  young  girls  take 
this  training,  in  order  that  they  might  employ 
it  in  their  own  homes.  As  yet  there  are  but  few 
training  schools  for  kindergartners  in  China,  and 
as  there  is  so  little  literature  on  the  subject 

100 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

translated  or  written  in  Chinese,  the  training  is 
too  much  confined  to  those  who  speak  English. 

Here  is  an  admonition  to  Chinese  ladies  on 
the  subject  of  deportment  dating  from  olden 
times:     ''The  deportment  of  females  should  be      ^ 
strictly  grave  and  sober,  and  yet  adapted  to  the 
occasion,  whether  in  waiting  on  her  parents,  re- 
ceiving or  reverencing  her  husband,  rising  up  or 
sitting  down,  when  pregnant,  in  times  of  mourn- 
ing, or  when  fleeing  in  war,  she  should  be  per- 
fectly decorous.'*    To  a  foreigner,  it  is  remark- 
able how  well  a  Chinese  lady  is  mistress  of  any 
occasion  in  which  she  may  find  herself.     In  the^ 
novel   and   trying   position   of   presiding   at    a  \  >^ 
public  meeting,  she  usually  acquits  herself  with^ 
credit  and  seems  as  capable  as  the  practiced 
club  woman  of  America.  

The  employments  to  which  a  Chinese  lady  ^ 
may  devote  herself  are  as  follows:     "The  rear-    . 
ing  of  silkworms  and  working  of  cloth  are  the 
most  important  employments  of  females;  pre- 
paring and  serving  up  food  for  the  household, 
and  setting  in  order  the  sacrifices  follow  next, 

101 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

each  of  which  must  be  attended  to;  after  them 
study  and  learning  may  fill  up  the  time." 

What  proportion  of  women  had  any  time 
left  for  study,  we  do  not  know.  In  the  novels 
written  in  the  later  centuries  the  heroines  are 
usually  depicted  as  educated  women,  who  take 
the  greatest  interest  in  the  literary  pursuits  of 
their  husbands  or  lovers,  and  are  a  source  of 
inspiration  to  lead  them  on  to  the  achievements 
which  mean  success  and  fame.  At  the  same 
period  in  Europe  a  lady  would  presumably  be 
inciting  her  beloved  to  bloody  deeds  of  valor, 
while  the  Chinese  lady  is  using  all  her  persuasive 
power  and  charms  to  keep  her  devotee  at  his 
books.  For  promotion  in  China  depended  on 
feats  of  memory  at  the  famous  examinations, 
rather  than  on  deeds  of  arms  at  the  tourney  or 
on  the  battlefield. 

In  the  main,  however,  we  must  conclude 
that  the  women  of  China  are  not  nearly  so  well 
or  so  universally  educated  as  the  men,  and  for 
much  the  same  reason  that  the  women  of  the 
West  were  neglected.    There  was  no  profession 

102 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

or   utilitarian   occupation   open   to   them,    and     / 
hence  no  inducement   to  pursue   studies  other 
than  the  love  of  learning,  nor  were  parents  dis- 
posed to  spend  great  sums  on  a  profitless  pupil. 
In  the  second  place,  the  course  of  study  has 
never  been  adapted  to  the  peculiar  needs  of 
women  nor  to  the  problems  of  home  life  to  which 
women  must  give  their  time  and  energy.     A 
careful  student  of  education  and  society  to-day 
would  probably  conclude  that  upon  the  recogni- 
tion of  these  two  factors  depend  the  continued  j 
success  of  woman's  education  which  seems  sol 
hopeful  to-day. 

Since  the  coming  of  the  missionaries  wno  ^ 
have  established  schools  for  girls,  and  since  the 
Japanese  have  given  girls  and  women  such  ex- 
cellent opportunities,  the  Chinese  people  are 
very  much  in  earnest  concerning  the  education '^i<^ 
of  women.  In  the  plan  for  universal  education 
girls  are  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  the  same  schools 
as  boys  until  the  age  of  ten  or  eleven.  In  every 
large  city  there  is  already  one  or  more  govern- 
ment schools  for  girls,  the  studies  of  which  ex- 

103 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

tend  over  a  period  of  eight  or  ten  years.  In 
these  schools  little  is  taught  besides  reading, 
writing,  ethics,  and  a  little  work  in  numbers. 
In  a  few  cities  normal  schools  have  been  estab- 
lished for  training  girls  to  teach  in  schools  or  at 
home.  The  subjects  taught  in  these  are,  Chinese 
classics,  history,  Wenli  composition,  geography, 
domestic  science,  mathematics,  English,  paint- 
ing, Chinese  penmanship,  music,  and  calis- 
thenics. In  some,  algebra,  physics,  botany,  and 
the  history  of  pedagogy  and  training  in  methods 
are  given. 

The  discussion  of  the  higher  education  of 
women  is  on  in  China,  and  it  is  treated  in  such 
a  broad  and  sane  way  by  some  of  the  young 
men  of  China,  that  I  can  not  forbear  quoting  at 
some  length  from  an  article  in  the  World's 
Chinese  Student  Federation  Journal,  written 
by  its  editor  and,  we  believe,  endorsed  by  many 
others. 

''Yet  looking  at  it  from  its  broader  issue,  no 
problem  is  more  important  in  our  present 
national  revolution,  and  consequently  deserves 

104 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

more  serious  attention,  than  the  education  of 
our  women,  which,  after  all,  is  the  only  solid 
foundation  upon  which  the  structure  of  our 
national  power  and  greatness  could  be  securely 
built. 

''  *The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle  rules  the 
world,'  is  no  sentimental  exaggeration,  but  ex- 
presses a  scientific  truth,  founded  on  solid  facts. 
History  has  demonstrated  again  and  again  that, 
whether  as  regards  the  individual  or  the  nation, 
the  fittest  to  survive  in  the  keen  struggle  for 
existence  is  that  one  which  has  been  the  best 
equipped  with  the  advantages  of  early  influ- 
ences. 

"In  the  attainment  of  these  ideals  and  in 
the  creation  of  healthy  moral  forces,  the  woman 
has  a  peculiar  and  important  mission,  and  in 
the  determination  of  her  qualification,  as  mother 
of  the  present  and  future  generations,  lies  the 
future  fate  of  a  nation.  ...  In  other  words, 
woman's  higher  education  should  aim,  above  all 
things,  to  produce  ideal  wives  and  mothers." 

The  above  writer  suggests  the  following 
105 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

branches  of  study  as  seeming  to  him  the  most 
practical  for  the  purpose  in  view,  and  we  must 
admit  that  he  has  no  mean  conception  of  the 
quaHfications  of  the  ideal  woman: 

Theoretical — (a)  General:  (1)  Chinese  Lit- 
erature, History,  Ethics,  and  Philosophy;  (2) 
History,  General  and  Modern;  (3)  Geography, 
including  Physical;  (4)  Mathematics,  including 
Solid  Geometry;  (5)  Modern  Languages,  (b) 
Scientific:  (1)  Physiology,  Hygiene,  Psychology, 
Sociology,  Botany,  Physics,  Chemistry,  Po- 
litical Economy,  Domestic  Economy,  Practical 
Biology;  (2)  Art;  Music,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
Drawing,  Painting,  and  Embroidery,  (c)  Prac- 
tical: Housekeeping,  Nursing,  Cooking,  Sew- 
ing." 

There  is  something  pathetic  in  this  plea  for 
the  education  of  women  in  this  Oriental  country. 
Since  it  is  not  considered  proper  for  men  to 
teach  women  unless,  indeed,  the  former  are  very 
old  and  sedate,  and  since  there  are  few  Chinese 
women  qualified  to  give  anything  but  the  most 
elementary  instruction,  the  problem  seems  to 

106 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

rest  with  the  foreign  women  who  are  willing  to 
devote  their  lives  to  this  tremendous  undertak- 
ing. In  the  course  of  twenty  years  or  more 
there  should  be  a  sufficient  number  of  Chinese 
women  to  carry  on  the  work,  with  such  assist- 
ance from  the  men  as  custom  will  allow;  but  for 
the  present  it  seems  to  the  writer  that  there 
can  be  no  modern  definite  call  to  social  and 
philanthropic  service  than  the  education  of  the 
women  of  the  East  by  the  women  of  the  West. 
When  our  own  land  is  studded  with  colleges 
scouring  the  country  for  students,  one  might 
well  wish  to  see  some  of  this  money  and  some  of 
this  teaching  force  transplanted  to  those  coun- 
tries where  such  privileges  are  unknown. 

What  better  tribute  could  the  American 
women  of  to-day  win  for  themselves  than  that 
earned  by  establishing  fair  college  halls  in  India, 
in  China,  and  in  Japan?  Of  all  these,  China  is 
the  neediest.  Of  course,  we  have  the  beginnings 
for  institutions  of  collegiate  grade  which,  if 
properly  equipped  and  supported,  will  soon  be- 
come colleges  of  strength  and  influence.    Chinese 

107 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

young  women  now  go  to  America,  which  Is  very 
expensive,  compared  with  the  same  education 
in  China.  And  China  is  needing  and  calHng 
for  these  young  college  women,  because  there 
is  much  to  be  done  in  adjusting  the  social  con- 
ditions of  the  new  regime,  which  can  best  be 
done  by  the  educated  young  woman  of  that 
country. 

In  speaking  of  the  education  of  girls  and 
women  in  China,  the  first  place  ought  perhaps 
to  have  been  given  to  mission  schools,  for  it  is 
due  to  them  that  the  desire  for  the  education  of 
girls  has  grown  so  vigorous;  but  after  all,  there 
is  a  strong  indigenous  touch  in  what  the  Chinese 
are  saying  and  doing  which  makes  their  work 
seem  a  continuation  of  what  the  old  Chinese  at 
least  held  as  ideals. 

The  first  mission  school  for  girls  was  estab- 
lished in  Ningpo  in  1844.  So  unwilling  were  the 
parents  to  allow  their  children  to  come  in  those 
days  that  it  was  customary  to  feed,  clothe,  and 
shelter  the  child,  to  say  nothing  of  free  books 
and  tuition.     From  that  small  beginning  have 

108 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

developed  numerous  schools  of  four  types — the 
elementary  day  school;  the  intermediate  board- 
ing school,  with  a  very  primitive  high  school 
attached  in  some  cases;  the  woman's  Bible 
training  school;  and  the  nurses'  training  schools, 
out  of  which  have  grown  two  or  more  medical 
schools  for  women.  It  has  been  after  these 
schools  that  many  of  the  government  schools 
have  been  modeled,  and  it  is  generally  conceded 
that  they  are  the  best  in  the  empire.  Plans  are 
on  foot  in  different  centers,  such  as  Peking, 
Shanghai,  Foochow,  and  Nanking,  to  establish 
normal  schools,  kindergarten  training  schools, 
and  even  a  college;  but  the  means  and  work- 
ers are  so  inadequate  that,  judged  from  our 
Western  standards,  there  is  little  to  show  but 
the  ideals. 

All  of  these  schools  are  modeled  after  English 
or  American  schools,  and  perhaps  too  closely. 
Chinese  classics  are  always  taught  and  in  some 
a  great  deal  of  English,  the  higher  subjects 
being  taught  in  that  language.  A  few  teach 
Latin  and  higher  algebra,  and  others  give  ele- 

109 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

mentary  courses  in  psychology  and  pedagogy  to 
the  advanced  pupils.  As  much  is  made  of  music 
as  possible,  for  this  is  a  great  favorite  with  the 
Chinese  and  is  in  line  with  their  old  ideas  re- 
garding female  education. 

A  word  might  be  said  in  regard  to  the 
woman's  Bible  training  school,  which  most 
nearly  resembles  a  deaconess  training  school, 
but  it  takes  only  married  women,  widows,  or 
women  over  twenty  or  thereabouts.  The  reasons 
for  these  schools  are  various.  One  is  the  need 
of  training  older  women  to  do  public  work  in 
teaching  and  preaching  and  in  philanthropic 
service  for  which  young  girls  are  not  suited. 
Sometimes  the  wives  of  married  men  are  sent 
here,  in  order  that  they  may  learn  to  be  more 
of  a  companion  and  helpmeet  for  the  husband 
in  his  work.  In  the  best  of  these  schools  the  ^ 
course  is  about  equivalent  to  an  eight-year 
course  for  younger  girls  and  some  fine  workers 
have  been  turned  out.  In  Nanking  one  graduate 
of  the  woman's  school  is  the  principal  of  a  large 

110 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

day  school  for  girls  and  boys,  and  has  five 
teachers  under  her  supervision.  It  is  said  to 
be  one  of  the  best  mission  day  schools  in  all 
China,  and  while  there  has  been  a  little  super- 
vision by  the  principal  of  the  woman's  school, 
who  is  an  American,  yet  all  recognize  that  the 
success  is  most  largely  due  to  the  quiet  little 
Chinese  lady  who  has  devoted  her  life  to  this 
work. 

Surely  the  women  of  the  West  who  are 
hardly  yet  through  their  struggle  for  the  privi- 
leges of  an  education  commensurate  with  their 
ability  and  suited  to  their  needs,  will  do  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  aid  the  women  of  the 
Orient  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  long  struggles, 
where  the  handicaps  are  greater  perhaps  than 
the  women  of  the  West  ever  encountered.  One(s/ 
thing,  however,  has  been  proven,  and  that  is 
that  woman  is  capable  of  taking  as  good  an 
education  as  man,  and  this  once  proven  will 
stand  forever.  Whether  it  is  expedient  that  she 
should  be  as  highly  educated  and  in  what  sub- 
Ill 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

jects,  may  have  to  be  decided  according  to 
times  and  circumstances.  But  the  last  word  is 
that  the  women  of  the  Orient  want  a  modern 
education,  especially  the  women  of  China,  and 
are  for  the  present  more  or  less  dependent  on 
the  women  of  the  West  for  it. 


112 


VII 

Western  Civilization  and  Chinese 
Women 

It  goes  without  saying  that  as  the  men  of  China 
have  been  profoundly  influenced  by  contact 
with  the  West,  so  have  also  the  women,  though 
more  slowly.  Now  what  is  the  attitude  of 
men  and  women  of  the  Orient  towards  woman's 
ways  in  the  West?  If  we  examine  what  it  is 
that  the  men  are  reaching  out  after  it  may  help 
us  in  the  more  recondite  problem  of  the  aspi- 
rations of  the  women.  The  men  of  the  Orient 
wish,  first  of  all,  to  attain  to  the  same  degree  of 
scientific  knowledge  and  the  same  degree  of 
skill  in  industrial  arts  as  the  West.  They  wish 
to  understand  sufficient  military  science  to  en- 
able them  to  protect  their  own  country  from 
aggressors,  and  they  are  fast  learning  the  prin- 
8  113 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

ciples  of  modern  commerce.  Most  of  all,  they 
want  that  spirit  of  nationalism,  the  stable  force 
around  which  all  the  material  prosperity  centers 
and  which  holds  the  vast  multitudes  of  citizens 
to  a  common  ideal  and  standard  of  conduct. 
Loath  to  part  with  old  morals,  customs,  and 
religion  of  their  people,  they  are  seeking  for 
universal  principles  which  shall  enable  them  to 
keep  those  features  of  their  civilization  most 
peculiar  to  the  genius  of  their  race,  and  to 
slough  off  those  which  are  mere  accidents  of 
certain  stages  of  development  which  are  anach- 
ronisms at  the  present  time.  Such  things  as 
idolatry  and  demonology  in  their  religion  all 
progressive  Orientals  despise;  female  slavery, 
concubinage,  and  punishment  by  torture,  all 
modern  men  recognize  as  unfit  for  any  en- 
lightened nation. 

Now  as  the  women  of  a  country  are  sup- 
posed to  be  the  special  custodians  of  the  most 
sacred  customs  of  a  country,  the  most  strict  in 
their  morals,  and  the  most  orthodox  in  their 
beliefs,  we  can  see  how  it  is  that  women  consti- 

114 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

tute  the  most  conservative  element  of  a  people. 
They  are  more  intimately  associated  with  the 
unchangeable  features  of  the  life  than  with  the 
more  public  and  variable  ones,  such  as  science, 
trade,  and  politics.  The  fact  that  they  live 
such  secluded  lives  in  the  Orient  and  are  for  the 
most  part  unable  to  read,  militates  against  a 
rapid  change.  One  obvious  manifestation  of  the 
slowness  with  which  women  change  is  the  mat- 
ter of  dress.  The  men  will  much  more  readily 
adopt  Western  dress  than  will  the  women. 

If  the  people  of  China  were  to  be  asked 
whether  they  wish  their  women  to  become  like 
American  women,  they  would  undoubtedly  give 
a  most  emphatic  no.  They  admire  the  trained 
intellects  and  the  executive  ability  of  Western 
women,  but  they  believe  that  all  this  may  be 
acquired  without  the  degree  of  self-assertiveness 
which  marks  the  free-speaking  and  acting  Amer- 
ican. A  Japanese  lady  educated  in  America 
said  something  like  this  to  me:  ''The  American 
ladies  over  here  conducting  schools  for  girls 
often  shock  our  deepest  sensibilities,  while  they 

lis 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

are  very  careful  to  conform  in  little  things. 
They  do  not  know  this  because  they  can  not 
understand  us.  Careful  parents  are  reluctant 
to  surrender  their  daughters  entirely  to  the  care 
of  foreigners  on  this  account.*' 

The  writer,  in  addressing  a  group  of  girls  in 
Foochow,  China,  said  to  them,  ''Of  course,  you 
do  not  wish  to  become  just  like  American  girls," 
but  was  somewhat  taken  aback  by  their  ready 
and  rather  indignant  concurrence  with  the 
statement.  A  learned  gentleman  and,  in  the 
main,  very  progressive,  speaks  thus  on  the 
danger  of  Westernizing  Chinese  women : 

"As  far  as  the  habits  and  life  of  the  Chinese 
women  are  concerned,  there  are  very  few  points 
in  common  with  those  of  her  Western  sisters. 
No  doubt  there  are  many  glaring  faults  in  them, 
but  they  also  possess  many  virtues  which  it 
would  hardly  be  advisable  to  tamper  with  and 
substitute  with  those  from  the  West.  .  .  . 
Western  education,  in  all  its  entirety,  as  at  pres- 
ent constituted,  is  quite  unfitted  to  the  soil  of 
China.     Certainly,  it  has  not  been  an  undis- 

116 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

guised  blessing  to  the  women  of  the  West.  The 
Chinese  woman  should  be  essentially  Chinese, 
but  more  highly  evolved;  i.  e.,  instead  of  being 
the  passive  toy  of  her  husband,  she  should  be, 
in  all  respects,  a  true  helpmeet/' 

And  yet,  despite  these  prejudices  and  con- 
servative forces  working  against  changes  in  the 
Orient  with  regard  to  women,  it  is  coming. 
Three  hundred  years  of  Spanish  rule  in  the 
Philippines  have  put  the  women  of  the  Islands 
in  a  class  by  themselves  in  the  Orient.  They 
go  about  the  streets  quite  independently  and 
mingle  in  the  church  congregations  with  the 
men,  as  also  in  the  market,  the  theater,  or  the 
public  gardens,  with  no  more  chaperonage  than 
is  common  in  European  countries.  Since  the 
coming  of  the  Americans  co-education  is  be- 
coming very  common,  and  young  men  and 
women  teach  in  the  same  buildings  under  much 
the  same  conditions  that  one  would  find  in 
America.  In  Japan  there  are  many  women 
teachers  in  the  public  schools,  and  every  pro- 
fession practically  is  open  to  them.     The  long 

117 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

occupation  of  India  by  the  English  has  cor- 
rected many  of  the  terrible  abuses  from  which 
its  women  suffered,  and  to-day  many  brilliant 
women  have  passed  government  examinations 
and  are  helping  their  sisters  to  push  aside  the 
curtains  a  little  from  their  "Purdah."  From 
increasing  intimacy  in  contact  with  Christian 
nations,  the  Moslem  women  are  lifting  their 
veils  or  making  them  thinner. 

What  is  it  that  the  Orient  fears  from  us 
women  of  the  West?  First  of  all,  perhaps,  they 
fear  the  free  and  intimate  companionship  be- 
tween men  and  women.  They  have  not  as 
yet  learned  the  true  principles  of  chivalry,  or 
social  protection  for  women,  any  more  than  we 
have  comprehended  the  spirit  of  the  "family" 
or  "house,"  and  their  ancestor- worship.  That 
is  perhaps  the  fundamental  difference.  We  de- 
mand honor  and  protection  for  potential  mothers 
of  the  community  rather  than  for  the  actual 
mothers  of  the  family  group.  This  springs 
from  our  broader  social  ideals  and  practices, 
which  are  just  as  binding  on  us  as  the  regula- 

118 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

tions  of  the  family  are  on  the  Chinese  or  Jap- 
anese. In  the  West  the  community  feels  as 
much  responsibility  for  the  virtue  and  honor  of 
its  women  as  does  the  family  in  Oriental 
countries. 

Probably  no  thoughtful  Oriental  student  of 
American  civilization  but  would  grant  that 
greater  purity  exists  in  the  relations  of  the 
sexes  here  than  in  Asiatic  countries,  and  yet 
unable  to  understand  the  fundamental  principles 
of  social  responsibility,  they  are  inclined  to 
doubt  its  applicability  to  their  conditions.  And 
they  are  right.  Until  the  comprehension  of 
the  greater  possibilities  of  sociality,  the  respon- 
sibility of  all  for  one  and  one  for  all,  women 
should  not  be  encouraged  to  seek  freedom  from 
old  customs  more  rapidly  than  social  protection 
is  afforded  them  by  the  growth  of  chivalrous 
ideals  and  practices. 

Whence  has  come  the  social  feeling  which 
permeates  the  West  as  subtly  and  pervasively 
as  the  atmosphere  we  breathe?  Probably  there 
are  four  influences  whose  effect  can  be  clearly 

119 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

traced.  First,  the  scientific  and  philosophical 
thinking  of  the  Greeks  which  freed  human 
reason  from  superstition,  especially  through 
their  three  great  apostles — Socrates,  Plato,  and 
Aristotle.  Looking  squarely  at  the  phenomena 
of  the  world  without  fear  of  gods,  men,  or 
devils,  they  laid  the  foundation  for  clear,  logical 
thinking  and  proclaimed  the  presence  of  uni- 
versal laws  in  the  physical  and  psychical  realms. 

The  second  influence  which  socialized  the 
West  was  the .  establishment  of  the  world-em- 
bracing Roman  Empire,  in  which  Roman  law 
and  Roman  justice  followed  the  victorious 
Roman  legions.  The  Roman  citizen  came  to 
feel  a  responsibility  not  to  a  monarch  on  a 
throne,  a  mere  man,  but  to  a  social  whole  which 
they  called  the  State.  Thus  Rome  added  to  the 
Greek  concept  of  universal  law  in  nature  and 
in  the  individual,  universal  law  in  man's  social 
and  political  actions. 

A  third  contributing  factor  is  the  Christian 
conception  of  a  universal  and  social*  religion  as 
opposed  to  a    tribal   or   family   religion.     The 

120 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

absolute  equality  of  rich  and  poor,  Jew  and 
Gentile,  men,  women,  and  children,  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  founder  of  Christianity,  and  has 
been  gradually  making  its  way  through  the  ages 
until  to-day  Christianity  is  a  highly  socialized 
religion.  Its  fundamental  principle  is  a  universal 
God  whose  vital  power  is  love  for  humanity. 
All  true  worshipers  must  strive  to  attain  to  this 
love  for  one  another  and  express  it  in  social 
service. 

The  fourth  factor  the  great,  virile,  childlike 
Teuton  race  has  added — universal  individual- 
ism. Within  the  bounds  of  universal  law  every 
man  is  free  to  work  out  his  own  salvation  as 
strongly  and  originally  as  he  will,  provided  that 
he  does  not  interfere  with  the  welfare  of  others. 
'* Freedom  of  speech,'*  ^'equality  of  rights," 
*' personal  liberty,"  are  the  catch-words  of  this 
spirit,  which  is  inspiring  even  the  women  of  the 
West  to-day. 

It  is  in  an  atmosphere  saturated  with  these 
four  principles  that  the  woman  of  the  West 
walks   to-day,    unharmed,    blameless,    doing   a 

121 


I  CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

woman's  work  in  God's  world  in  her  own  way. 
In  the  office,  on  the  streets,  in  the  home,  woman 
is  hedged  about  by  a  thousand  invisible  guard- 
ians of  sentiment  and  custom  which  have  sprung 
up  at  the  call  of  the  spirit  of  the  age,  loving 
service. 

Is  the  woman  of  the  Orient  safe  in  an  at- 
mosphere of  superstition  and  credulity?  Is  she 
safe  in  a  land  of  arbitrary  justice?  Is  she  secure 
in  a  civilization  permeated  with  demonolatry? 
Can  she  walk  unharmed  in  a  land  where  family 
subserviency  rather  than  individual  freedom  is 
the  basis  of  social  life?  As  the  moral  codes  of 
China  and  the  spiritual  aspirations  of  India  are 
revivified  through  contact  with  the  science  and 
free  spirit  of  the  West,  the  woman  of  the  East 
will  rise  to  her  rightful  position  in  honor  and 
security. 

After  the  great  primal  fear  of  the  improper 
relation  of  the  sexes  comes  the  foreboding  that 
women  will  refuse  to  assume  the  duties  of  wife 
and  mother.  Some  few  women  may  always 
prefer  the  work  which  lies  outside  the  home  or 

122 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

they  may  be  driven  to  it  by  circumstances,  yet 
the  statistics  in  America  show  that,  despite  the 
higher  education  of  woman,  most  of  them  follow 
the  world-old  path  of  home-making  and  child- 
rearing,  and  that  they  are  bringing  to  these  old 
duties  a  new  meaning.  The  enlightenment 
gained  from  study  is  increasing  the  possibilities 
for  good  in  the  family  and  is  helping  to  make  it 
equal  to  the  demand  which  modern  civilization 
is  making  on  it. 

With  the  enlargement  of  vision  which  has 
come  with  the  educated  woman  in  the  home, 
there  is  a  new  dawning  in  the  realm  of  educa- 
tion, and  we  are  about  to  substitute  a  new  aim 
in  education.  We  are  saying  that  the  improve- 
ment of  the  human  race  is  the  goal  of  our  teach- 
ing and  training,  rather  than  objective  achieve- 
ment to  be  measured  by  material  progress. 
We  believe  that  this  new  idea  will  find  as  ready 
acceptance  in  the  Orient  as  in  the  West.  What 
matters  a  country  with  great  cities  and  rich 
farm  lands  if  the  people  are  deteriorating? 
Sages  of  every  land  have  seen  the  importance  of 

123 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

the  early  years  in  the  home,  but  it  is  only  with 
this  century  that  we  are  realizing  that  the 
mother  needs  a  special  training  for  the  care  of 
the  souls  and  bodies  whose  being  has  been  de- 
rived from  her  own. 

We  of  the  West  have  seen  and  feared  this 
tendency  which  the  Chinese  are  now  decrying, 
but  science  and  common  sense  are  bringing  us 
to  a  saner  view  of  how  the  evil  may  be  com- 
bated. Madame  Key  has  stated  the  problem 
and  its  solution  well,  and  from  her  book,  *'The 
Century  of  the  Child,"  we  quote  these  lines: 
"In  our  program  of  civilization  we  must  start 
out  with  the  conviction  that  motherhood  is 
something  essential  to  the  nature  of  woman, 
and  the  way  in  which  she  carries  this  out  is  of 
value  for  society.  On  this  basis  we  must  alter 
the  conditions  which  more  and  more  are  robbing 
women  of  the  happiness  of  motherhood  and 
children  of  the  care  of  a  mother.'' 

No,  the  East  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
best  in  Western  civilization.  It  may  well  fear 
that  a  wrong  selection  will  be  made  or  that  a 

124 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

partial  adoption  of  certain  customs  will  endanger 
what  there  may  be  of  good  in  it.  What  is  it 
that  we  of  the  West  can  most  heartily  recom- 
mend to  the  women  of  the  East? 

The  greatest  thing  that  we  of  the  West  have 
to  give  the  Chinese  woman  is  the  Christian  re- 
ligion in  its  best  interpretation.  A  religion  de- 
void of  all  superstition  and  stated  in  terms 
which  accord  with  the  highest  developments  in 
modern  science  and  philosophy.  All  great 
writers  on  religion  seem  to  be  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  the  fundamental  truth  of  Christianity 
can  be  stated  in  a  few  words  or  it  can  exhaust 
the  logic  of  the  wisest  minds.  This  religion, 
with  its  wonderful  message  of  loving  service, 
has  certainly  proclaimed  the  day  of  redemption 
for  womankind.  Take,  for  example,  the  matter 
of  widowhood.  In  all  Oriental  religions  widow- 
hood brings  disgrace  and  suffering  to  the  poor 
victim.  In  India  she  was  formerly  burned, 
often  against  her  will,  and  to-day  she  is  little 
better  than  a  slave  among  the  unenlightened 
classes.    To-day  in  China  she  is  still  in  danger 

125 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

if  her  husband's  relatives  are  disposed  to  misuse 
or  sell  her.  In  the  early  Christian  community 
the  widow  was  made  the  first  charge  of  the 
Church,  and  was  employed  in  holy  offices  to 
the  poor  and  suffering. 

In  reply  to  the  challenge  of  a  young  British 
officer  of  the  Indian  service  as  to  ''Why  the 
missionaries  harry  the  poor  people  so/*  the 
writer  asked  him  in  turn  if  Christian  missions 
had  not  bettered  the  condition  of  women  in 
India.  To  this  he  responded  frankly  and 
earnestly  that  Christianity  had  done  much  for 
the  womanhood  of  India.  And  so  men  who  have 
been  in  the  East  always  reply  to  the  same 
question.  However  little  they  know  about  mis- 
sions and  however  much  they  may  be  prejudiced 
(and,  by  the  way,  the  latter  is  always  in  an 
inverse  ratio  to  the  former),  all  see  the  possi- 
bilities in  Christianity  for  Eastern  womanhood. 

Next  to  religion  we  must  give  them  science. 
Why  science?  you  may  ask.  The  curse  of  every 
non-Christian  country  is  superstitious  fear.  In 
the  early  days  of  Christianity  it  was  supposed 

126 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

to  be  efficacious  in  exorcising  demons,  but  to- 
day the  power  is  lost.  In  its  stead  we  have 
modern  science,  which  is  able  to  cure  sickness, 
prevent  the  spread  of  epidemics,  and  explain 
many  mysteries  formerly  attributed  to  demons. 
Therefore  science  must  be  the  handmaid  of 
religion  in  any  missionary  enterprise  if  we 
would  lay  lasting  foundations. 

Again,  the  woman  of  the  East  needs  to  study 
history  and  sociology,  that  she  may  know  how 
races  have  arisen  and  how  they  have  fallen: 
the  traits  that  make  for  sanity  and  permanence 
in  the  nation,  and  the  institutions  which  make 
up  society  and  those  which  hurry  a  nation  to 
its  decay.  She  must  learn  from  the  accounts  of 
other  peoples  how  to  be  patient  in  the  struggle 
to  raise  herself  and  fellow-countrymen  to  a 
standard  which  shall  stand  the  test  of  ideals 
which  Christianity  implants. 

Lastly,  music,  art,  poetry,  and  polite  liter- 
ature are  needed  to  make  up  the  well-rounded 
woman  who  would  be  fittest  for  the  service 
awaiting  her.    It  is  not  enough  to  know  how  to 

127 


CHINESE  WOMANHOOD 

think  and  to  act;  one  must  also  know  how  to 
think  and  act  acceptably.  Charm  and  accom- 
plishments have  their  own  power  for  good  in 
this  world. 

Let  us  of  the  West  give  them  of  our  best, 
->A  thoughtfully  and  humbly,  not  forgetting  that 
there  are  many  lessons  to  be  learned  of  the 
^  sweet-mannered  women  of  Cathay.  China  is 
entering  upon  her  renaissance  and,  as  is  always 
the  case,  the  impetus  seems  to  come  from  with- 
>.  out.  Much  of  evil  is  still  in  our  boasted  civ- 
ilization, and  much  finds  its  way  across  the 
oceans  and  continents  to  the  countries  who  are 
reaching  out  for  the  things  of  the  West,  as 
Europe  once  reached  out  for  the  things  of  the 
East.  Evil  may  only  be  overcome  by  good, 
and  it  is  within  our  power  to  send  the  alleviating 
cure.  How  we  blush  with  shame  when  we  think 
of  the  opium  trade  forced  on  China  in  the  early 
part  of  the  last  century  by  a  Christian  nation, 
and  we  rejoice  indeed  that  thousands  of  Chinese 
women  signed  their  names  to  a  pathetic  plea 
which   was   sent    broadcast   over   Europe   and 

128 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION 

America,  beseeching  the  discontinuance  of  the 
evil  that  was  wrecking  China's  manhood  and 
China's  homes. 

Let  us  keep  our  ears  open  to  hear  every  call 
that  comes  to  us  from  Cathay.  Let  us  show 
ourselves  friends  to  those  who  need  our  friend- 
ship and  comradeship,  and  may  the  day  soon 
break  when  Cathay  and  America  will  be  serving 
under  the  same  motto  in  the  struggle  for  the 
uplift  of  humanity — ''Loving  Service." 


129 


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